Mushoku Tensei: Sword, Magic Hats, and Romance!

It was late into the night.

Amid faint creaking sounds, Allen opened his eyes.

Moonlight filtered in through the window, casting the floor in pale white.

He found himself lying on the bedroom floor.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Allen sat up. At least Paul and Zenith had been considerate enough to lay a futon under him.

Sniffing at the scent clinging to his clothes, he muttered with resignation:

"…Smells strongly of blood. Probably from slaughtering that boar earlier. Guess they didn't want to mess up the bedding, so they just left me on the floor. Straightforward as ever... But seriously, did Paul have to hit that hard? In the end, he should be thanking me—if it weren't for me, where would he even get the chance to try clinic play, huh?"

Creak… creak…

Allen froze. That sound hadn't come from him—something else was moving.

A faint murmur drifted from the master bedroom next door.

"Dear, I can't anymore—"

"Oh? But we're just getting started!"

"…No."

"…Don't."

"…Ah."

Allen slapped a hand across his face.

What terrible timing! Why the hell did I have to wake up now?!

He laid back down, but the increasingly raucous noises from the next room made him feel like pins were pricking his spine.

Forcing himself to calm down, he shifted his focus to the [Dragon-Saint Aura Seed] in his core.

Beside the little tree-shaped rune for Healing Magic, a flowing, water-like rune shimmered with a brownish glow—it had quietly embedded itself into the Detoxification slot.

In the original series, Detoxification Magic didn't get much spotlight—or rather, it wasn't rare, but mostly showed up for mundane stuff like stomachaches or hangovers. Still, at higher levels, it was supposed to cleanse negative status effects too. Kinda like a Mercury Dispel?

Forget testing it right now. My mana recovery is too slow—hardly worth the cost.

"Darling—"

Gotta think of something else to distract myself… Sylph's hair hasn't been cut short yet, has it? That's nice—managed to catch it in time. She's like a little porcelain doll, like one of those SD ball-jointed ones...

"Ahh—I really can't anymore."

Hmm. That's Zenith's voice.

"Try using Healing and Detoxification Magic."

…Wait. What?!

Healing and—Detoxification?! Are you serious right now?? You're telling me those kinds of "status effects" can be cured with Detox?!

Allen's eyes shot open, and he sprang up from the floor like a startled catfish.

They've been married for years—how the hell are they still going at it like this?! Hold on, Paul's like… twenty-four right now? That makes Zenith twenty-two? So she had their kid at seventeen—meaning she got pregnant at sixteen. Paul, you monster… Still, I guess they are in their prime. No wonder.

Ugh, there's no way I'm sleeping through this. May as well take a bath. The bathroom's far enough from their bedroom—they probably won't hear me. Then again… if they did hear, it'd probably just get them more excited, wouldn't it?

Shaking his head, Allen crept to the door and cracked it open. He peeked outside—and froze.

In the dim hallway, Lilia was slumped outside Paul and Zenith's bedroom door. A sliver of light leaked through the gap beneath the door, casting a narrow band of illumination across her face. She was wearing only a shirt, one hand beneath her—

Allen quickly pulled his head back in, then covered his face with both hands in agony.

What is this, some kind of twisted family ritual?! Is everyone in this house compelled to spy on the master bedroom? What's the deal? Even I'm getting curious now!

Sighing silently, he returned to his futon, intent on going back to sleep.

But just then, he caught sight of the boar hide he'd stripped yesterday—gleaming faintly under the moonlight.

He blinked.

Well, since I can't sleep, might as well finish what I promised yesterday. I'll be back early enough to bathe… Maybe I'll even gain something.

Nodding to himself, Allen opened the window. Moonlight poured across his hand like water.

...

Outside, Buena Village was silent. A breeze rustled through the grass, brushing across his face.

He vaulted through the window and landed noiselessly in the yard, vanishing into the night.

...

The next morning, the sound of birds chirping outside roused Rudeus from sleep. Blinking blearily, he sat up—then froze.

In front of his bed was a small, finely crafted shrine.

It was about the size of his face, with smooth surfaces and distinct grain patterns. A subtle, damp, woodsy fragrance clung to it—like the smell of a forest after rain.

He blinked again, slowly turning his head.

Sitting in a chair beside the bed, Allen rested his chin in his hand, his eyes narrowed the same way they always were.

"Morning, Rudy."

Rudeus blinked a few more times before remembering that he'd passed out after getting poisoned. He'd felt a bit resentful toward Allen at first—but the moment he saw the shrine, that feeling vanished without a trace.

"Morning, Allen."

"I promised you yesterday, remember? We were supposed to make this shrine together, but… well, something came up. My bad—I didn't expect you two to pass out from eating too much Bartils seed powder all at once."

Rubbing his drowsy eyes, Allen pulled out a black leather pouch from behind him.

Rudeus's gaze shifted from Allen's face to the pouch—it was a piece of the boar hide Allen had cut off yesterday.

Looks kind of like those bucket bags girls used to carry in my past life… There's even a snap made from some kind of dried seed. Pretty thoughtful craftsmanship. But what's it for?

Before he could ask, Allen took the shrine from Rudeus and smoothly slipped it into the pouch.

"Here. Makes it easier to carry and hide. Just stash it under your bed. Even if someone sees it, no one's going to bother opening it just to check what's inside, right?"

Rudeus twitched at the corner of his mouth.

Dude. Don't you know curiosity is a thing? That's exactly how it gets noticed!

Still, he accepted the gift with both hands, solemnly.

Allen rose to his feet.

"Alright. The master and his lady are, uh… probably still asleep. Lilia too. Feel free to lie around a bit longer."

The morning sun cast a gentle light across Allen's face as he stretched and yawned.

"I'm off for a bath. Still reek of blood from yesterday's boar."

Rudeus watched him. For someone who usually looked like a bully, Allen didn't seem the least bit threatening today.

"Thanks, Allen."

As Allen turned to leave, his eyes caught the Earth Magic figure of Roxy sitting on Rudeus's desk.

He blinked and pointed.

"Hey, can I have that? The Roxy figure you made with Earth Magic—it's really well done."

Rudeus, still distracted by the shrine, looked up and glanced at the figure.

"Sure. I made a bunch of those. If you like it, take that one."

Huh. Never figured Allen would have such refined taste.

Allen smiled and scooped up the figure without hesitation.

Compared to one-sided giving, mutual exchanges were far more effective at building closeness between people.

[Rudeus's affection increased. Childhood Phase Participation Rating +]

[Current Phase: Childhood. Cumulative Participation Score: 52 points.]

[Assessment: Even 2 points is still progress.]

Allen rolled his stiff neck, watching as the system panel faded from view.

After multiple interactions, he'd begun to realize something: the most straightforward way to raise Participation Rating during the childhood phase was through positive feedback in interactions with key characters—mainly, raising their affection levels.

So the main method of earning points is strengthening bonds with major characters? Not fully confirmed yet… Still need more data to analyze the underlying logic of how points are awarded. Asking the system directly just gets me stonewalled or riddles. Damn cryptic thing.

Only 2 points this time… Less than expected, but better than nothing.

Yawning again, he made his way down the corridor toward the bath.