Mushoku Tensei: A different path

(Rudeus POV)

Well... forced break time... at least they listened enough to allow me to heal my arms back myself once I have enough mana.

But until then, break time next to my prideful dragon buddy it is. Oh. And Sara. She decided to keep me company.

We were just chilling, looking at the gray sky, thinking about one thing or another, and overall enjoying the moment's peace.

Well, except for one tiny, minor, and not-so-important gesture I agreed to do despite there being a lot of things to do.

Sara offered to rest my head on her lap since she thought it helped me calm a little like it did last time, especially since she noticed how relaxed I had become when she hugged me moments ago.

I know, I know. We should've done this somewhere more private, especially when there was work to do with the city.

Can you really blame me?! The moment those two combined words entered my ears, my degeneracy said "yes" before my brain could properly process it. I mean, come on. A lap pillow? How could I say no to that? There was a chance and I took it, period.

But also, I could swear that I saw Soldat whisper something to her when I was further away.

Deep down, I appreciated his assistance. But could he not have done it with the smirk on his face?! That led to Paul, who identified the reason for Sara's blushing, overflowing with signals of pride shooting towards me.

Sara probably wanted to help me get at least some comfort and peace from today's events after hearing about the reason for my mana hands.

And now, with only the two of us here (three if you count Hiryū), me laying my head on Sara's lap, I secretly enjoyed the two hills that were in my view. What? You can't expect me NOT to admire them while they're right there for me to secretly look upon.

"Are we sure that all the insects were defeated?" Sara asked away, her eyes glued to the sky.

"Pretty sure we killed enough so that there will only be smaller ones roaming around for a while. And if we do find out there's more, we can always send out the big guy here."

"Grrrrrrr."

"Okay, okay. You don't have to do the grunt work anymore. We'll see about assigning that work to someone else."

"... *Huff*"

As I said, prideful dragon. He must still be angry at the humiliation from those leeches. It must've been worse than getting defeated by me since he was paralyzed from the Voice Magic, and therefore, it wouldn't have been a proper defeat in his book.

"You know, you don't have to force yourself to keep me company," I said seriously to Sara.

Immediately, Sara's eyes went down to look at me, so I had just as quickly to remove my eye from the actual view.

"What the heck?" Sara scoffed. "You're the one who took on my offer in an instant."

"And I do not regret accepting it at all. And besides, I recently learned from Timothy that I have been quite neglectful, and it's time for me to change that."

The blushing on Sara's face was both embarrassment and betrayal. Sorry, Timmothy. The little teasing games from you and the others will have to come to an end.

"How about a shopping trip? Once things settled, that is. I'd like a second opinion for a new robe from someone whose job isn't to rip me off my money."

"What about getting one just like the one you've made in Rosenburg?"

"It's because that one was the most expensive and perhaps the best one I've had, but also the one that lasted the shortest period of time out of the four I've had so far as an adventurer."

It's not just my bad luck playing a role here; it is also painfully obvious to me how nice and expensive things, like my PC from my previous life or [Aqua Heartia], hit the hardest when they are gone.

So, I've decided to buy at least one good robe and another cheaper one in case robe number four gets shredded, and then after, I need a spare one.

"I actually need to go shopping for clothing myself."

"Oh? What are you gonna be looking for?"

She didn't answer but blushed a little. She was putting one of her hands on her ...Oh?... oooooh... ohohohoho~. She wants to see what my preferences are. You don't have to ask me twice.

"What're you smirking about?"

"Nothing!" I nervously said, cursing degeneracy for nearly ruining it.

"Anyway, what's the deal with that red-haired girl who punched Soldat after you two were arguing like that?" Sara asked with noticeable frustration.

Oh, crap. My chances of getting on a date with her might get close to zero after I tell her about my relationship with Eris. *Sigh* Well, let's see what she is thinking about it.

I went on to tell her about how my encounter with Orsted led to Eris having to witness me getting killed by Orsted and how my overworking due to my insomnia led her to believe that I was secretly training to take revenge on him.

It was difficult to describe the details of the events, especially how Eris misunderstood when I said she was weak.

After I shared the reasons behind my departure from Eris and the circumstances that led to it, Sara looked thoughtfully into the distance, emitting some feelings of resentment.

"And what did she do after you left her?" She asked, her voice calm.

"She went to the Holy Land of Swords, where Sword God accepted her as his direct student after he found out their goals allinged. However, after my ascension to the number five of the Seven Great World Powers, she has been looking down on Sword God and mocking him for initially being disinterested in coming to Sharia."

"... and do you actually plan on taking revenge on Dragon God?"

"No. I did lose myself to my anger when I first fought him, nearly taking Eris's life with me, but I don't desire to take revenge or even as much as a rematch at all."

"..."

Can she please say something before her irritation gets any higher? The silence is killing me here, and I have the world's best kind of pillow cushioning my head.

"If you were to fight Dragon God again, could you win?"

That is not what I expected her to ask at all. Was she siding with Eris? What am I in for this time?

"In my Human form, not at all. In my Demon Dragon form, not sure."

"But if you were able to change into that form... how would your odds be?"

What's up with the question? Wait, is she trying to figure out if I should fight Orsted?! She and Eris are similar in some ways.

Let's think this through and give her an honest to goddess answer. It's gonna be hard to answer anyway, as I haven't gone all out in that form at all in those two times I've unleashed it.

"My chances would still be slim. Orsted knows many techniques and skills, some of which he even used against me. He even managed to use his race's technique to absorb the mana from two of my perhaps strongest spells, one of which is my second [Bright Sky Wave] attack I hit him with. So I'm certain that fighting him will not come without its price to pay later on. And I... I don't want to take that risk for something I myself am at fault for."

"... I see."

What does 'I see' mean?!

"So that dumb bitch is only making things more difficult for you."

...

...

...

So that's what 'I see' means. Also... what?

Removing my head from her legs, I stood on all fours before her to see that she was dead serious about aiming her irritation at Eris.

"Wait, Sara, I don't think you understand. It was my fault for misunderstanding Eris in the first place. I'm the one who made the mistake of evaluating her feelings at that time."

She then moved both her hands to put them on the sides of my face.

"And what about your feelings? You went going through a lot and kept shouldering things on yourself. I've seen it myself.

Now that I've heard what happened to your old party, it makes sense to me why you push yourself too much.

For god's sake, you came to help us this time even though you've lost your hands and figured out how to make new ones with mana.

And I've seen how panicked you became when I told you another World Power was coming here. You immediately jumped to the suspicion that it was the Dragon God. Yet she's out there basically provoking another World Power to get into a fight with you.

If she doesn't accept that you are genuinely afraid of facing that guy again, then it's on her for being blind to everyone except herself."

Right. I didn't get to the point where I would've told her about the Millishion thing. But it probably would leave her confused as to why the same guy who killed me suddenly does me a favor.

"B-But I could've handled the situation differently."

"Stop it with the constant self-blaming! She could've also handled it herself better. But if she refuses to admit to her mistakes even after your warnings, there is barely any point arguing about it."

From the look in her eyes, I could see that she was also talking about herself in this.

Much like Eris, Sara was harsh to me initially but slowly became mindful of my true nature after the dragon incident. She realized she had judged me too harshly and is now treating me differently, understanding what I endured.

I still can't get over myself for misunderstanding Eris's struggle, not even if she managed to train under Sword God directly.

But it doesn't mean that I will allow her to continue to train under the guidance of that lowlife Gal Farion.

I will try to talk her out of it. And if she refuses? Well, I guess I have to deal with him like I did with those apostles. Merciless.

If that guy has the same mindset as the characters in those fantasy stories, then it will be easy to get him to agree to a battle to the death.

When I was about to speak again, a group of signals drew my attention. Specifically, the person we were talking about.

It didn't take much time for Sara to see them approaching us as well.

Sara stood up, her eyes fixed on Eris, ready to confront her.

I stood up and took her hand, stopping her from becoming a punching bag for Eris.

"Sara, wait! Let me talk to her."

At my plea, Sara turned her head to me, her brows still furrowing.

"Please," I calmly said.

"... fine," she said, turning away from me again.

Okay, the crisis and possible tsundere battle have been averted, at least for now.

Now, on to the others again.

Among them were Eris, Ghislaine, Sylphy, and Paul.

I really need to talk to Paul, too. I need to apologize for dragging him into this mess with the Millis Church and thank him for helping us defeat the insect queen. But I also want to know about him turning into the Demon Dragon form.

'I am afraid it is too late for questioning and reconciliation. Your time is up.'

Suddenly, I heard Kagami's voice before the mana in my body suddenly gathered in my chest, circulating together before exiting with a loud audible heartbeat, followed by some glass-shattering sounds and a sharp sensation inside me.

The events went fast, but I knew what this was. It was the aftereffect I would have gotten after using my curse.

But I haven't used it today. Unless there has been some connection between Paul's appearance, I would not know why this was happening right now.

My throat felt as though it were completely blocked, the lack of air making it hard to breathe and causing me to collapse onto my knees.

I held my throat, attempting to heal myself, only to see my mana arms glitching.

What is happening? This is going a bit too extreme.

The panicked voices of everyone around me became muffled, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.

Sylphy pushed between the others to put her hand on me, but I could feel that my body was rejecting her mana, her attempts of healing as futile as mine.

I started to lose all my senses. My sight, hearing, sense of touch, and even my detection got shut off. I was in complete and utter darkness to my surroundings.

'What can I say? Small cuts on the heart paired with power-ups equal massive damage. All avoidable if you stopped being reserved with your true potential.'

I couldn't clearly understand what Kagami was saying, but I could tell that it was another mockery.

After what felt like an eternity passing, I could hear the sounds of cracking reverberate inside.

This feeling was all too familiar to me; I had experienced it multiple times before. It was the last thing I remembered from my old world. It was the feeling of dying slowly drawing me away from my consciousness.

I was dying yet again.

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