Leave it to me.
I said that and began the preparations for the marriage.
Norn has given an affirmative response, the problem lies on Ruijerd''s side.
He is an adult. If I asked him to marry my sister, he would most likely agree to it.
Thinking logically, marrying my family is also to the benefit of the Supard race.
Objectively, looking at my title, I am a trusted retainer of the Dragon God.
Since ancient times, marriage has been a way of deepening strength of an alliance.
With Ruijerd and Norn’s marriage, the Supard race won’t oppose the Dragon God faction, and we would no longer have to cast them away.
That''s the proposal I have prepared.
It is a happy proposal.
But is that really alright?
Would that make Norn happy?
If Ruijerd married her thinking "It can''t be helped", would Norn be satisfied?
When she realises that she isn''t loved back, she will most likely break into tears.
Ruijerd is currently in Biheilil Kingdom, in charge of negotiations.
Which means that Norn wouldn''t live in the Magic City Sharia any longer and would move to the Supard village.
After the incident in the Biheilil Kingdom, the whole village knows her name and face,
So the villagers would most likely accept her.
But, while living with a race other than your own, the common sense and daily lifestyle would be different. Would Norn be able to make a good living?
Worst case, Norn would be ostracised from the villagers.
I''m worried.
Very worried.
I asked my three wives for advice on the issue:
Roxy said: "If it''s Norn, she''ll be fine."
Eris said: "If it''s Ruijerd, she''ll be fine."
Sylphy said: "You''re overthinking this."
But I am still worried.
I cannot allow Norn to meet with misfortune.
If Norn were to spend her days crying, Paul would glare at me in my dreams, and Zenith would be standing at my bedside slapping me awake from my peaceful sleep.
For both their sake, I must make sure Norn is on the road to happiness.
Anything after that is up to Norn herself.
Of course, I understand that Ruijerd is a man worthy of my faith.
Even if he didn''t love Norn from the bottom of his heart, I know that he would treat his wife properly.
He would care for her in a way that would never cause her to cry.
But I still have to confirm this with Ruijerd.
No matter how much Ruijerd might not love Norn.
Even if I must prepare some kind of event to have them get along better.
It should be possible to have Ruijerd’s feelings for Norn turn around.
And then everything should reach a Happy End.
"...Alright."
And so, with that, I arrived at the Supard village in Biheilil Kingdom.
The Supard village, a few months into reconstruction, already looked complete.
The village was surrounded by large trees and on the inside, houses were lined up in rows. They hadn’t harvested yet, but there were crops growing in the field.
When the Supard warriors saw me, they bowed their heads and kindly led me into the village.
After I gave an appropriate greeting in response, we quickly made our way to Ruijerd''s house.
Of course, it was a new building.
Ruijerd held a rather significant standing in this village, so his house was large.
Yup, it''s more than enough for two people to live.
"...Ruijerd-san, are you in?"
"Oh, Rudeus."
Ruijerd was inside.
It seemed he had just finished eating, he was sitting next to the fire place in the centre of the room with his eyes closed in some kind of state of meditation.
"..."
I went and sat down in front of him in seiza.
Ruijerd opened his eyes and gave me a puzzled look.
"...What''s wrong?"
As he asked me, I turned my palm towards Ruijerd.
"Please wait a minute, I''m still choosing my words."
"...Alright."
And so I kept my silence.
While sitting there staring at the flickering fire, it felt like nearly an hour had passed.
It may sound odd, but I couldn''t think of anything to start with.
I know what I must say.
Ruijerd''s feeling for Norn.
Whether he likes her or dislikes her and what he thinks of her a marriage partner.
But I don’t know how to word it.
How about:
‘How do you feel about marrying Norn?’
No, marriage and feelings are separate issues. I can''t forget that.
"..."
Ruijerd didn''t try to start a conversation with me as I was sitting in silence.
He was waiting for me to start talking.
As if to say that there was absolutely no need to rush, that I should choose my words at ease.
I don''t know whether or not he has some business to take care of, but he probably doesn''t have anything to do.
Most likely, he acts this way towards Norn as well.
Or it’s possible that Norn may think of this attitude of his a little irritating.
No, probably not.
The very reason Norn fell in love with Ruijerd was because of this particular trait of him.
A partner not bothered by silence is a valuable thing.
Although I''m agonising a little over it now.
"...Right, recently, Norn has been making tea, she''s gotten quite good."
"Hmm, Norn''s tea."
I said that fishing for a response, and Ruijerd replied.
As I thought, he is somewhat interested in Norn.
So is the first condition clear...?
No, wait, when a man who has been sitting in silence for an hour says something, no matter what it''s about, you would reply.
Don''t rush.
It''s about the flow of the conversation.
"It seems that because she''s been making it at her workplace, she''s gotten better."
"Is that so... When she came to the village before, it was good."
Ruijerd closed his eyes as if he was remembering something.
Is that so, it seems Ruijerd has already had Norn''s tea.
It was good he says.
Putting it like that means that he would probably like to try it again.
Is he thinking something like "I''d like her to make me tea everyday..."?
Damn it, how should I ask him.
We traveled roughly 10 minutes from the Supard village into the forest surrounding the Earth Dragon Valley.
Deep into the Forest.
Here in a small clearing, Ruijerd and I face each other.
“…”
Ruijerd had a stern face the entire time.
I might have made him mad.
After that conversation, it’s no surprise that conveying Norn’s feeling to him was a failure.
Or he might have just misunderstood.
As some form of political manoeuvre, I was presenting him with Norn.
If it’s Ruijerd,
He’d say like a man, “As her brother you must protect Norn. You mustn’t use her to curry favour.”
It’s because he’s reliable like that, that I can trust him.
“You already noticed it a while back.”
But what came out of Ruijerd’s mouth was outside of my predictions.
“…?”
What have I noticed?
I, who am currently standing here in confusion?
I, who cannot even guess what is right by any standard?
“What?”
“Don’t say any more, here I come!”
It seems there’s no use in talking.
I had no reason to have my precognition eye open, and without it, I had no way to see Ruijerd’s movements.
“—Wah!”
Ruijerd closed in in an instant and I was thrown to the ground.
But opposed to ten years ago, I knew what to do.
Thanks to my regular training, I managed a last minute response.
Ruijerd came at me with his spear from the right, and I raised the right hand of the Magic Armor MK. II to guard.
But Ruijerd then came around with a low kick which I blocked, and then used that leg as a pivot and kicked around with his other leg to knock me down.
“How’s that?”
Ruijerd thrust his spear at the back of my neck and looked down at me expressionlessly.
“I concede. Splendid skills.”
I have no idea what’s going on.
But I can’t say anything else.
I don’t think he’d stab my neck, but it’s obviously my loss.
“Is this sufficient?”
What’s he talking about?
Is what sufficient?
“Isn’t it me that’s insufficient?”
“…Then, is this enough?”
I don’t know what’s enough but in this situation he’s not lacking anything.
No matter what I say it would still be uncouthly.
“This is enough.”
As I said that, Ruijerd, moved his spear out of the way.
I raised my body up and sat down.
And looked up at Ruijerd with with my pathetic face.
“Then as promised, I get your sister.”
And then Ruijerd said something odd.
He gets my sister?
What about my sister?
Was there that kind of promise?
Huh?
What were we talking about?
I seem to have lost sight of the conversation.
“It’s just as you suspected.”
What did I suspect?
“I have fallen in love with Norn.”
“Fallen in love…”
I desperately tried to remember the meaning of that phrase.
If I remember correctly… It’s a feeling. A feeling of longing for someone.
“…Huh?”
Which means that Ruijerd likes Norn?
No, wait, don’t jump ahead.
Misunderstanding are my weakness.
“So Ruijerd-san, you like Norn?”
“……I like her.”
Am I being pranked?
Should I happily say, “Then I’ll let you marry Norn”.
And then when I go and bring Norn along in a white kimono, Ruijerd will come along with a giant billboard saying “Huge Success”.
That would me a huge mental shock. Norn might even kill herself.
It has to be Hitogami’s doing.
Damn it! For Ruijerd to be Hitogami’s apostle!
“Is this some kind of joke? Or maybe a punishment game?”
“It is not a joke.”
Ruijerd looked slightly offended by that.
That’s right, Ruijerd isn’t the type to joke around.
Especially at times like this.
“From when?”
“Several months ago, around the time of the battle in the Biheilil Kingdom. I would like to hold closely, the woman who so devotedly looked after me.”
They did look like they were getting along well together back then.
It couldn’t have just been Norn’s one sided feelings.
―○●○―
Q: It’s because of practice that she can cook well, but how did Rudi, after living in the same house for so many years, not try it?
A: If he had asked she would have made something for him, but all the practise was probably done somewhere else.
Like at school.
Q: I’m so happy that I feel that something’s going to go wrong…
A: Even though this is a redundancy chapter!?
Q: It’s good to cry isn’t it.
A: I don’t mind it.
Q: I think this belongs on the daily rankings. But if the people that see Mushoku Tensei and then go read the original are only a few, I think it would be a waste.
A: The redundancy chapter is just an extra so it’s ok.
Q: The light novel manga deal that I bought has arrived.
A: So it arrived!
That’s good…
Q: A secret extra chapter… It’s really great.
A: That this story became three chapters, it surprised me too…