Mushoku Tensei: Life and Strife.

Today was the day I decided to touch grass. No. Literally. I’m nearly five. I am confident that no matter what happens, I can protect myself. Well, technically the worst thing that can happen to a child inside a village this peaceful is bullying, but anyway, you get my point.

It’s not my first time going out per se, but this was still the first time I went out on my own. Without Roxy in hand. Not that I needed her or anything; it’s just I never really had a reason to leave my comfort zone.

But I was stagnating, and inspiration was in demand. Naturally, a change of wind would help. I hope.

After telling Paul that I was heading out, I was surprised that he willingly gave a thumbs up. It seems the days of being rolled over in swordsmanship have proved their worth. Still, he could have at least been gentler. Hell, who swings at full force at a child? Outside, I could see my surroundings clearly.

It was as expected from a typical farming village, with wide open yellow fields and houses dotted from here and there. Aside from wheat, there were vegetables and some pale purple flowers that resemble lavender.

As I traversed through the beaten roads, some of the townsfolk, I noticed, were waving at me. Unlike Rudeus, who never went out, I sometimes went with Roxy outside and helped the villagers with stuff, so I guess they recognized me.

Yeah. These were the things that I achieved in this life.

I smiled as I thought so, waving back at them. That said, Paul is a knight who was deployed as a publicly sanctioned bodyguard, protecting the village from monster attacks. So that would result in this as well, I guess.

Step by step, I made my way up to the top of a small hill. At the top stood a lone tree, the largest one around. A high vantage point like this would be perfect for sniping—I mean, confirming the layout of my village… I feel like I am being more and more childish for some reason. Anyway, I was sitting at the tallest tree in the village.

Should I try climbing it? But then why the need to climb it?

From here I could feel the depths of mana, especially from the forest. While personally, I felt like Rudeus had more mana emitting from his body than the total amount of mana inside that forest.

In fact, I too have more mana than that forest, though not as in-depth as Rudeus. To be honest, I feel like I was hitting my limits. I don’t really know how to explain this either, but it felt like I stuffed my entire stomach with food.

While I should be grateful for having a lot of mana, having more would be better. I thought, especially considering that one fight between Rudeus and Orsted in the novel. If even Rudeus could lose in attrition warfare, then what about me, who had even less?

So, I need to think of a way to contain more mana. I don’t want to end up rolling over the floor by an opponent stronger than me.

But to be honest, I was feeling quite ambitious. I didn’t just want to contain it, but I wanted it to grow stronger as well. And I DO in fact have an exemplary example of such a thing.

If you are a fan of wizardry, you would probably know about it too. The snake that follows the noseless villain. Yup. But on a whole different scale. I’m going for mass production. If I’m going to do something, then it has to leave an impression.

“Get the hell out of here!”

“Take this! ”

“Ha, nice! Direct hit, man! ”

I was going to do a comical evil laugh at the thought when suddenly noises caught my attention. From this position, I could see three kids bullying a tiny little kid. Yup, it’s Sylphiette alright. Focusing mana in my eyes, I could see her green hair. Not that I cared.

At the end of the day, everyone ends up fending for themselves. Last time I helped a friend, he sold me out to the bullies. Isolated and outcast. That was the beginning of my misery. I will never repeat the same mistake.

Plus, her first meeting with Rudeus was him saving her from bullying. Suffering for a bit longer for an eventual happy married life wasn’t a bad deal. Logically or emotionally, saving her was unnecessary. It was better to leave her.

“Ten points if you can nail him in the head! ”

"Rain shower."

Sudden rain fell on the children as fast as it disappeared. It was controlled quite thoroughly so there wasn’t actual damage, but it definitely scared the kids as they ran away. Except for one child. It was Sylphie. She sat there in a daze at the events that transpired.

“Jeez, thanks Laurel. What was that for?”

I sighed while muttering to myself. As a fellow victim of bullying, I dislike it just like anyone else. No. I despised it. I hated it so much that I strangled my bully once…

Perhaps that was when my tendency towards violence had spiked. It wasn’t because I liked violence. I actually hate violence quite a bit. Violence was simply the fastest means to resolve conflict. Always has. Always will.

Well, whatever the case was, the problem was dealt with, and now that it’s out of my sight, everything else is now Sylphie’s problem. And so, I yawned, stretching my arms and lazing around. Now, nothing can stop me from enjoying my solitu—

“Wah!”

Oh, for the love of… Hah. Great. Sylphie was crying… Hah. I sighed. I do NOT want to go down. Nor do I have enough interpersonal skills to stop a child from crying. So how do I deal with this? Ah, right. Kids like cute animals, right? Maybe this might just go in my favor.

The blob had formed into a chubby creature with four legs and moved them around. I would have preferred to make it smaller and cuter, but it was apparently not skilled enough to do so. Whatever the case, it’s not too bad… I think. Ah, fuck it. We’ll make do with what we have.

With mana in my hands, I cast into being a moving blob of a water ball, and with wind magic as my voice, I was going to cheer this kid up with magic.

And it was probably something I would regret my whole life.