Mushoku Tensei: Life and Strife.

Roxy’s POV

…

It was the darkest hour of the night, just like the darkest moment of her dark history.

She woke up exhausted. Not physically exhausted. Physically, she was perfectly fine. Mentally, however, she felt as though her soul had been dragged through several mountain ranges before being thrown into the ocean. The moment her eyes opened, she remembered last night.

The pen. Dropping from one staircase to another as it rolled towards her loosened shorts. And on top of the stairs was a young figure staring right down at her with his purple eyes.

“L-Laurel.”

We made eye contact. And Laurel, calmly and composedly, chose to disengage, retreating towards his room as if nothing had happened. As if he had never been there and everything was just her delusions.

Why did she look upwards?

No, that was a stupid question. Of course she looked up. Something had fallen right at her position. Anyone would have checked. The real issue was the timing. Or more specifically, the fact that she had been peeking into Paul’s room in a state that no respectable teacher should ever be seen in by her student.

Her student. She squeezed her eyes shut. No. Calm down, Roxy. Laurel was only four years old. He probably didn’t understand what she was doing. He’ll probably forget everything afterwards. Probably…

Now that she thought about it, Laurel was acting like anything but a four-year-old. She never really thought about it, but in the first place, both Laurel and Rudeus were weird. One was a pervert and the other a Miko, so—

“Oh my god…”

She immediately pulled the blanket over her face, mortified about the sudden realization. He DEFINITELY knows. Laurel had handled it maturely. Way too maturely.

If he had cried, screamed, looked confused, or asked what she was doing, then she could have made some excuse like secretly researching magic or something. After all, children don’t know much. But Laurel was not like a child.

The memory returned with horrifying clarity. The stiff expression on his face was like someone caught doing a crime. The silent eye contact, as well as the way his face reddened and the way he casually retrieved his pen with telekinesis and disappeared as if nothing had happened.

Roxy groaned. How was she going to deal with this?

At first she thought that avoidance might be an option. But then again, they are living under the same roof, both the culprit and the witness, not to mention the victims. What was she going to do if he spilled it to either Zenith or Paul?

She smashed her face into the pillow. The embarrassment would kill her. She rolled onto her side and covered her face again. It gets worse with every thought. No. She had to make sure it never happened. She needed to talk to Laurel the next thing in the morning. Maturely. Like a true adult. Right. Everything was going to be fine.

“You can do this, Roxy.”

She pumped her fist.

…

Laurel’s POV

…

It was the break of dawn. I feel like a deer in the headlights. No. Seriously. What the hell. I stared at the blue-haired creature staring at me as if it was trying to devour me.

“… Roxy?”

Unkempt and disheveled, the tiny girl—adult woman stood at the door, peeking inside. She looked as if she hadn’t had a wink of sleep yesterday… Don’t tell me she had been standing at my door this entire time.

“Oh, hi, Laurel. What are the coincidences?"

“…”

I feel like I was sweating bullets at this point. What do you mean by "What are the coincidences?" You’re at my door, damn it. Thank god this was my second life. If it was my first, I’d be sleeping without my shirt on. That would've been embarrassing.

“I… see. So, uhm…”

I was rolling my tongue trying to ask why she was there. To my surprise, she started the conversation.

“I… Um… about yesterday…”

I frowned. Yesterday? What happened yester—ah. Ah. Fuck.

The memory of a young lady doing indecent things while watching my parents pleasuring themselves resurfaces. Fuck. Why did you have to mention it, Roxy?

I turned my face away as it was going red from the neck upward. Then I turned back, trying to be polite with a customer service smile.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“…”

Silence ensued. Roxy was staring at me like crazy, but I kept my cheeks from falling. Be professional, Laurel. This isn’t the time to waver, so calm down. On one hand, I was claiming I was an innocent child, and on the other, it meant I intended to keep silent on the matter. Regardless of how she interprets it, with this answer, Roxy will have to back down.

And yet, to my complete and utter dismay, her answer was completely out of my expectations.

“W-Would you like to go down to the village with me today?”

“Huh? The village?”

“Yes! For supplies! Probably! We might need things!”

I looked at her confusedly. What ploy was she scheming? But her embarrassed and forceful continuous words that seemed as if they were repeating over and over the context of “Let’s go together!” weren't helping.

Wonderful. Very convincing. It seemed so utterly ridiculous that I entertained the possibility of her secretly trying to dispose of my dead body somewhere. But then again, Roxy didn’t seem capable of doing something so maddening. At least not the one from the novel.

And so, I reluctantly agreed.

…

Roxy’s POV

…

The walk into the village was unbearable. It was silent. Worse than even the silence of her hometown. Of course it was silent; it was the break of dawn. Not even a ghost is awake at this hour.

Hah. She sighed. What was she thinking, inviting him to a walk out of the blue? Staring at the tiny child right next to her, she was suddenly reminded of yesterday’s incident. It made her self-conscious. Each time their eyes met, she felt like he was looking at her bare naked or something.

Was he judging her? Did he think she was a shameless whore staring lustfully at his parents like an animal in heat? Immoral? Irresponsible?

“Rox-”

So many thoughts flooded her mind—so much that she unconsciously tugged downward on the hem of her skirt. She slowly glanced at Laurel. And then she saw it.

Laurel stared at her with his mouth as if he intended to say something. But then as he noticed her staring at him, his face distorted, and he closed his mouth and turned away awkwardly. His neck was in deep red, as if threatening to reach his cheeks at any moment.

“…”

“…”

It happened so suddenly that I almost tripped over my own feet.

“Whoa! Careful!”

"... Ah."

“Are you okay?”

"Yes, thanks.”

Luckily, Laurel noticed in time and caught her from falling.

“…”

“…”

...And then, the silence ensued. This time, Laurel’s face was entirely red, muttering something about hormones—whatever that was, as he sighed and rubbed his face. She could feel—no—she could literally see him walk faster just so she wouldn’t see his face as he tried to focus on the beaten road. The silence deepened further, entrenching her into its madness.

She wanted to scream. This was a nightmare.

“Hah. Fuck.”

She sighed. If only he would just say something childish and destroy all these terrible assumptions in her head. But instead, he kept acting like this. She stared at him begrudgingly.

There Laurel stood as he stared back at her, his mouth agape. Why is he doing that again? Roxy wondered. If only she could read his mind.

“Ah, fuc—Ah.”

Her pupils shrank as she stared at him. Laurel, awkwardly, once again closed his mouth and walked away. She realized the problem. She swore out loud. Ah. Maybe running to another continent might not be a bad option. Wait. No. No. She shook her head. This can still be salvageable.

Then, after several more agonizing minutes of walking, Laurel suddenly spoke again.

“So… why are we here?”

“… Ah, yes? Why?”

“…”

For a moment, Laurel stared at her in disbelief. Then he said.

“The supplies?”

“Ah, right! Supplies!”

“…”

She felt like her dignity as a respectable teacher in his eyes was waning at every second here.