Descargar la aplicación
84.03% Life in Vain: Jobless Reincarnation (Mushoku Tensei) / Chapter 177: Otherworldly Future Visitor

Capítulo 177: Otherworldly Future Visitor

The Magic City of Sharia was bustling with activity. Rumors of the Church of Milis intervening in the slave trade quickly spread, fanned by those who were both freed and given the resources to return to society.

There were also rumors of a quickly growing population of devout believers in the Milis religion... though quite a few of them praised 'Lord Rudras' in the same breath as 'Saint Milis'...

The Greyrat family was busy as well, preparing for upcoming weddings. The brides-to-be and their family were deep in wedding reception and wedding venue planning. The groom's family was busy prepping unique attire for each wedding as well as looking for gifts, spending most of the day shopping using said groom's personal funds.

As for the groom himself…

Well, he focused on his job as the sole professor of the Ranoa Magic Academy.

It would be a lie if he said he didn't regret taking the position considering the amount of sheer paperwork he had to handle when doing the work of over ten different professors.

Fortunately, magic was everything, and he managed to automate a system to sort it all out.

...It totally wasn't inspired by the old days when a substitute teacher would roll in an old projector and play a movie for the class. Definitely not.

But regardless, time marched on, and soon it was the day before Eri's wedding ceremony.

Since all the weddings were timed to be on the last day of the week, with any pre-wedding celebrations and the ceremony itself thus on the weekend, that meant that Rudy was free.

Though everyone else was busy making last minute arrangements and logistics planning, Rudy was left to his own devices.

...Probably because everyone was worried he would cause things to get out of hand.

Rudy didn't see how. He was a perfectly reasonable person, and he also wasn't going to ruin his lovely wife's special day for his own pride.

But whatever. Since he was free, he was spending the day taking a stroll around Sharia. It was going to be his second (Third? Fourth?) home in the future, so he figured that he would map it out.

The residential district, the entertainment district, and then the commercial district.

Rudy took his time walking around and just unwinding for the first in a while. And then someone called out to him. And in Japanese.

"Excuse me, Sir. Are you Mister Rudeus?"

Rudeus paused and looked towards the speaker.

It was a young man. He had an unfamiliar face, but from the black hair, clear Japanese facial features, and even polite Japanese mannerisms... plus recent context clues, Rudy had a good handle on the guy's identity.

Smiling, Rudy turned towards the young man and smiled. Speaking in Japanese, he said, "That's me. And I guess you must be Shizuka's 'friend' from the future. Akihito or something, right?"

The young man glanced at his left wrist, looking at a watch. After that, he let out a relieved smile and looked back at Rudy. "Yes. I'm Akito. Shinohara Akito." He let out a deep sigh after saying that and said, "You're a difficult person to track down, Mister Rudeus..."

Rudy laughed. "Well, I've been busy."

-RNG-

Shinohara Akito.

This guy was apparently the lynchpin behind all the crazy time shenanigans that involved 'Rudeus Greyrat.'

That was enough to be curious about the guy, especially since he still hadn't shown up even after Rudeus died in that other timeline.

But what interested me more was that this guy was Stella's- No, "Shizuka's" boyfriend.

Slightly messy hair, a confident but also somewhat awkward vibe... He was wearing a black blazer and jeans which surprisingly didn't stick out much in this city because of the academy. Still, it was clearly a Japanese high school uniform instead of the one at Ranoa Magic Academy.

There was no doubts about his identity. The timing was a bit strange, but assuming complex time shenanigans involving an alternate version of my cute but hyper-inquisitive and smart baby sister, I could believe it.

We were walking together around the city now, just strolling and chatting. Since the city was bustling with activity these days, we didn't stick out much just chatting.

I did place a few magic formations up so that people would hear our talk as random chatter, but overall, everything was fine.

Standing beside me, Akito let out a sigh of relief and said, "I was getting a bit worried. Shizuka said there'd be plenty of time, but we're running pretty close…"

"I'm assuming you didn't just drop in then?"

Akito shook his head. "I've been in this world for a while now trying to find you after checking certain things." He let out a sigh and said, "It's been hard. Thankfully, Mister Orsted has been helping out a lot."

He has? But he hasn't told me anything...

Wait.

No, that makes sense.

Orsted was a serious guy, so he probably wanted me to focus on getting ready for my weddings.

I should get him a nice gift for that. He looked like a tough guy, but maybe he liked sweets... I should ask him next time I see him.

But anyway.

I looked back at Akito and said, "So what's the message then? Since Shizuka went out of her way to send you here, I'm guessing it's serious?"

"Right!" Akito smacked his fist into his palm and said, "I almost forgot. One second..." He fiddled with his watch for a bit, and then a folded piece of paper popped out. "Here it is." He handed it over and said, "I don't understand anything, but Shizuka said you would?"

I grabbed the paper and read it.

Like Akito said, it was from Shizuka. And while there was a lot of information, when ignoring the complex mathematical proofs and summarizing the conclusions...

Basically, the hypothesis about twisted and overlapping parallel timelines I had was practically 99% confirmed.

My timeline, the future Rudeus's timeline, and the other timeline we visited were twisting into each other while still trying to run parallel courses of history.

There was a 'loop' in each timeline, but since everything was so tangled, it was also staggering said loops, causing a lot of weird anomalies. Not only that, but there was a master loop encompassing all the timelines.

To resolve that loop, we had to split the timelines and eliminate the cause of each loop.

For the future Rudeus' timeline, the loop would end when my timeline and the other timeline was cleanly severed.

As for how to sever said timelines...

Shizuka wasn't sure, but she hypothesized that we had to confine Hitogami to one timeline, either mine or hers.

But we also had to clear up the loop conditions too in each timeline.

For hers, she was sure that it was keeping Akito alive and taking care of Hitogami. Unfortunately, that, and I quote, "blockhead" was as fragile as a bubble according to Orsted and was prone to dying.

That was why she sent him over to my timeline, since I was ridiculous enough to keep the man alive.

As for my timeline... she said I would know better about the exact conditions, but it definitely wasn't the same as hers.

On the surface, it seemed like Shizuka left me with all the hard work.

But I pretty much knew the cause of the potential 'loop' here already. I mean, it was pretty simple.

Setting Orsted aside, the person who would forcibly rewind time... and the person who had done that once already...

Was me.

I mean, that was obvious considering all the 'Alter' versions of me running around.

To stop the loop here, I just had to murder Being W and make sure my family was safe. If I did that, I wouldn't flip the table and do a hard reset by trying to rally against the heavens.

In short, kill god, save the girls, live happy.

Easy enough, right?

Akito looked over and frowned. "...Is it complicated?"

I tucked the paper away in a pocket of folded space. "Not really. Just gotta keep you from dying and kill god. Easy."

Akito let out a relieved sigh. "That's good- Wait. Keep me from dying?"

"Yeah." I chuckled and said, "Shizuka said you're as fragile as a bubble. Apparently, you can die at the drop of a hat."

Akito paled. "Is... Is that why all those crazy things kept happening to me? Like the random falling meteorite? Or the sudden collapsing ground? And the glass shard in my drink...?"

"...Okay, first off." I held out my hand and conjured a bracelet.

Weave a boatload of protection spells, good luck blessings, bad luck blockers, Anti-Being W magic formations, offensive spell programs, defensive spell programs, passive homeostasis healing spells...

And good to go.

I tossed the bracelet over to Akito and said, "Put that on and you'll be fine."

Akito blinked and then shook his head. "I-I can't accept something like this!" He looked at the glittering gold bracelet and said, "This is pure gold, isn't it?"

"Something like that. But I'd rather you not go dying on me while you're my guest here."

Especially since Stella would freak out if she found out her ex was both here and then randomly dropped dead.

...Wait, was this guy her ex?

I don't think I ever asked her directly about it since it was extremely traumatic...

...Meh, I'd find out when she reacted to him.

Akito slowly nodded and said, "Okay then, Mister Rudeus." He snapped the bracelet open and then clamped it over his right arm. The moment he did, the bracelet shimmered and dissolved. "E-Eh?"

"Don't worry about it. Intended design feature."

Akito blinked and then slowly nodded. "Okay. Right, isekai."

"So." Since that guy was safe as he could be now, I crossed my arms and said, "Anything you want to do in particular?"

Akito shook his head. "I've checked the things Shizuka wanted me to check, and I don't really have anything to do... But if you're serious about the killing god thing, I can help!"

I blinked. "...What? How?"

Akito's ears turned red and he coughed. "W-Well, okay. Not directly, but I've read a lot of manga and played a lot of games! Shizuka said I should be able to help you find a loophole! Plus, you're a ridiculous cheat character who got isekai'd, so if we work together and go through all the stuff I've read, *something* should work, right?"

...Huh. A guy who looked like a 'normie' but was a die-hard otaku.

Wait. 'Cheat character?'

I frowned and said, "Just to confirm, by Shizuka, you don't mean Stella, right?"

Akito blinked. "Satella? Like the Witch of Envy from Re: Z*ro?"

"Re: Z*ro?"

"Yeah." Akito nodded and said, "It's a web novel about a guy who gets sent to another world and then has the ability to go back in time on his death. There're a few hints that it might not really be going back in time though. And the female lead is this girl with silver hair. She has a floating white cat that's actually a primordial ice spirit or something, but she's commonly mistaken for Satella, the Witch of Envy who's like a taboo and super evil lady who's probably the big bad. The web novel's not very far along yet, but it's super cool!"

"I... see."

That guy just said a whole paragraph in a single breath.

Definitely diehard otaku. But that aside...

It was an interesting concept.

A bit too many parallels for my liking, though. Especially the part about the female lead.

Floating white cat that's secretly a primordial ice spirit owned by a girl mistaken for 'Satella' who is a 'Witch of Envy'...

...Mm. Let's not think about the world entirely in terms of anime, manga, and light novels.

Akito paused and then turned a bright red. He coughed and said, "Sorry about the rant..."

"No, no. It's fine." I laughed and said, "Don't get me started about the moon."

"The moon? You mean Type-"

"We don't talk about that here. Now." I patted the guy's shoulder and said, "Let's get you a place to live. There's been a few recent evictees and evacuees in town, so we can probably get you a place for cheap..."


Capítulo 178: The Eccentric Craftsman

At the commercial district of Sharia, a certain fire spirit and a mind-reading miko were stuffing their faces with sweets.

Stella's eye twitched as she watched them and then said, "Do you two have to do that at EVERY shop we go to?"

Fai swallowed a powdered donut and then said, "But the food tastes soooo good!"

Miko took a bite from a funnel cake and nodded. "It's delicious!"

Stella let out a deep sigh.

Since it was the day before Onii-chan's wedding with Eri nee-chan, the house was busy being prepped, and she had been shooed out.

Stella wanted to go hang out with Onii-chan, but he vanished somewhere. Because of that, she tried to get someone else. But literally the only person available was Miko.

Which was fine. Stella considered Miko a good friend. But...

...She didn't think Miko was such a 'gourmet.'

Stella frowned and said, "Aren't you worried you'll get fat, Miko? Fai is fine since she's a spirit, but you..."

Miko brushed off her hands after finishing her latest snack and smiled. "It's okay!" She stuck up her arm and flexed her muscles. "I've been training with Norn, so I'm burning all the sugar! Besides!" She lowered her arm and proudly buffed out her chest. "Since I started training, the fat's been going somewhere else instead!"

Stella clicked her tongue.

Miko laughed.

Stella shook her head and said, "Whatever." She started walking along the street again, adjusting her backpack as she did.

Leo and Wyn were busy doing some secret 'work' together to prepare for the wedding, so the only spirit friends with Stella right now were Fai and Wata.

As for Wata...

"Cheer up, Stella!" The cat spirit hovered beside Stella in a transparent form, keeping guard. "I'm sure you'll get big one day too!"

...He just didn't have any tact.

Stella sighed. "Don't need to rub it in."

"H-Huh? Did I say something wrong...?"

Stella shook her head and then took a look around.

Fai and Miko were walking behind her, but they also stuck close. There were a lot more people around than usual in the city, so it seemed like the two were worried about getting lost.

Stella hoped the people weren't all here for Onii-chan's wedding though. Uncle Philip and Auntie Hilda did mention they wanted to go big, but Eri also said she talked them down...

No, this was probably something else. And come to think of it, Onii-chan raided a bunch of slave markets the other day...

Spoilsport.

How was Stella supposed to be a hero when Onii-chan kept doing all the side quests before her?

Wata floated to sit on Stella's shoulder and said, "It's probably better that way, Stella. Miss Zenith will be mad if you do something reckless again. Remember how she reacted by you trying to cook?"

Stella flinched. "R-Right..."

The Hug Monster...

Norn had warned about it, but Stella didn't believe it.

Then she found out firsthand after healing a cut from trying to peel a potato.

The relieved sigh, scolding, and then the following suffocating embrace by Mama Zenith...

Stella shuddered.

Miko walked over to Stella's side and said, "What do you want to do now, Stella?"

Fai walked over to Stella's other side and said, "Yeah! Are we going to go eat more food? Please?"

Stella rolled her eyes and said, "Onii-chan gave us a lot of pocket money, but we shouldn't just spend it all eating. Besides, you guys already tried out most of the street food around here."

They'd been walking around all morning now, so there really weren't many places left to look.

Stella paused and took another look to see if there's anything interesting.

Clothing stores, magic artifacts, weapon stores, cafes...

Those were kinda cool. But Stella was sure that nothing there would surprise or awe her at all considering what Onii-chan could make. And clothing stores... well, she had a minor trauma regarding them now after all the shopping she did with Mama Zenith and Mama Lily...

After some more walking, Stella noticed a shop with extremely detailed statues.

"Hm?"

She paused and then took a look at the figurines on display through the window.

Perfectly chiseled down to the folds in the fabric. Life-like expressions that made the statues seem like people turned to stone.

Either way, it looked interesting so Stella walked towards it.

"H-Hey!" Fai quickly followed after Stella and said, "We're going in here? But the food...!"

Stella rolled her eyes and said, "Save your stomach. We're going to a bunch of weddings, remember? You can eat your fill then."

"Oh!" Fai's eyes lit up and she said, "Right!"

Stella ignored her and then walked into the shop, opening the door.

A soft bell echoed, and then they all walked in.

The shop was surprisingly spacious, large enough to hold dozens of life-sized statues. There were also shelves with smaller figurines of monsters and people, along with various jewelry.

"Wow..." Miko looked around and said, "Even the statues at the Church of Saint Milis aren't this detailed."

"Yeah." Stella nodded and then walked over to one of the statues.

A smiling mother, holding an infant in her arms. A handsome man standing next to her, a hand placed on her left shoulder...

Stella glanced down and saw a plaque describing the piece. "Family, huh?"

Taking a look around, she realized that the other statues had plaques as well. And some were in glass cases.

Instead of a shop, did they find a gallery or museum?

Footsteps echoed from the back.

Stella glanced over, ready to run or cast magic in case something bad happened. But she didn't need to worry.

"Welcome!" ...Oh?" A young man wearing a black robe walked out from the back. He was tall and willowy and his brown hair was styled in a bowl cut. Although his big round glasses gave a bit of an eccentric look to him, he radiated a calm atmosphere.

Glancing at Stella, Miko, and Fai, he smiled and said, "It's rare for children to visit my workshop. Are you here for some toys?"

Stella puffed her cheeks and said, "Just because we're kids doesn't mean we want toys!"

The man nodded and said, "Of course, of course. Whatever the case, please enjoy your time here. Don't worry, the figurines are extremely durable." He laughed and said, "I've tested them myself."

Stella pursed her lips and then walked over to a shelf with a small collection of monsters. She was curious, so she picked one up and tested it with earth mana. But to her surprise, it didn't even budge.

The man noticed and said, "Do you like that one? You can take it if you wish." He gestured towards the shelf and said, "I just created those from scraps, so if you children find anything interesting, feel free to take it with you."

Fai's eyes lit up and she said, "Really?" She quickly glanced at a pile of shimmering spirit figurines and said, "Can we really?"

The man nodded. "Of course." He smiled and said, "Children should be happy when they can. If a figurine provides that, then all the better."

...He was weird.

Stella felt something off about the man, so she glanced towards Miko. She was their resident mind reader, so if she was fine with it, everything should be good.

Miko got the signal and then looked up at the man. "Um, Mister? What's your name?"

'Nice, Miko!'

An innocent and childish question to make the man look into Miko's eyes.

The man smiled and said, "My name is Zanoba, and this is the workshop my Master gave me to hone my skills. And speaking of Master..." He walked over to the shop and placed a 'closed' sign up. "I am actually fairly busy with a commission." He smiled at Stella and the others again and said, "Feel free to stay and look around as much as you like. Simply close the door behind you as you leave."

After saying that, Zanoba waved at the children and then left through a door in the back of the store.

"Huh." Stella stared at the door for a bit and then said, "That guy was a bit weird, but I guess he's alright?"

He was almost too calm and polite. Still, he wasn't giving off any 'creep' vibes. Just... odd. Like he was carefully controlling his actions.

Wata materialized and then said, "I think he's safe, Stella! He seems really strong and everything, but he also doesn't seem like a bad guy."

Stella panicked and then grabbed Wata. "Don't just pop into existence like that!"

"But it's fine! Aaah! Don't squish there! I'm not a plushie, Stella!"

Miko giggled. After that, she looked at Stella and said, "Well, Mister Zanoba said we can take some toys. Should we see if there's anything good for a gift?"

Stella let Wata go and then nodded. "Good point."

There were a lot of interesting trinkets laying around. And Zanoba seemed serious about letting them take some souvenirs... which Fai was already doing by trying on various jewelry and playing with some tiny angel figurines.

Was this because she was a fire spirit? Fai was always so quick to act without thinking at all...

Stella sighed again and then started browsing.

Now let's see, what would be a good gift for Onii-chan...

Ooh. This tiny elf girl figurine looks cute... And it looks like there's a series of mini-Roxy as the Headmaster of Ranoa Magic Academy too.

That should be cool, right-

*BOOM*

Stella flinched and almost fell over.

"Easy, Stella!" Wata quickly conjured up a fluffy cloud to catch Stella.

Even before she hit that though, a light shimmered from the pendant she usually wore and corrected her balance.

Didn't mean she recovered from shock though.

"What was THAT?"

"Oooh!" Fai looked excited and turned towards the back. "Mister Zanoba is using explosions!"

"EXPLOSIONS?!"

Miko giggled.

Stella glared at her and said, "You knew and didn't warn me?!"

Miko smiled and said, "Well, I was curious too. Mister Zanoba makes all the statues and figurines by hand, so-"

Another thunderous explosion shook the shop.

It was enough to where Stella wondered why the heck they didn't hear it from outside.

And then she saw that the shop was filled to the brim with magic formations that activated with every explosion, cancelling the shockwaves.

The only reason they could hear it at all was because there weren't any formations on the door to the back.

After yet another explosion echoed, Stella sighed and said, "It's always weirdoes. Always..."


REFLEXIONES DE LOS CREADORES
HappyVainGlory HappyVainGlory

Next time, the bachelor party

Load failed, please RETRY

Estado de energía semanal

Desbloqueo caps por lotes

Tabla de contenidos

Opciones de visualización

Fondo

Fuente

Tamaño

Gestión de comentarios de capítulos

Escribe una reseña Estado de lectura: C177
No se puede publicar. Por favor, inténtelo de nuevo
  • Calidad de escritura
  • Estabilidad de las actualizaciones
  • Desarrollo de la Historia
  • Diseño de Personajes
  • Antecedentes del mundo

La puntuación total 0.0

¡Reseña publicada con éxito! Leer más reseñas
Votar con Piedra de Poder
Rank 200+ Clasificación PS
Stone 8 Piedra de Poder
Denunciar contenido inapropiado
sugerencia de error

Reportar abuso

Comentarios de párrafo

Iniciar sesión

tip Comentario de párrafo

¡La función de comentarios de párrafo ya está en la Web! Mueva el mouse sobre cualquier párrafo y haga clic en el icono para agregar su comentario.

Además, siempre puedes desactivarlo en Ajustes.

ENTIENDO