Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 11 - Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Natural Predator 

TELEPORTING FELT a bit like snapping awake out of a doze. Maybe I’d actually lost consciousness for a moment. 

Looking beside me, I saw Elinalise was just as startled. 

“I guess we’re here,” she said after a moment. 

“Well, maybe…” 

We were still standing in a stone ruin, just as we had been before. And the chamber didn’t look particularly different at first glance. 

After a few seconds, though, I started to notice small piles of sand in the corners, and a lack of vines on the walls. The stone was tinged a slightly browner color, too. We’d been teleported somewhere , all right. 

I stepped gingerly out of the magic circle. 

My body seemed to be functioning normally. I had my belongings too. And I hadn’t swapped minds with Elinalise or anything. 

Once we stepped completely out of the teleporter, it began to emit that bluish-white light once again. Apparently, it was ready and waiting to return us to the other side. 

That was convenient and all, but I didn’t see any magic crystals powering this thing. How exactly was it getting the mana that it needed? Maybe it had a power source buried under the floor? What if it was somehow absorbing mana from the air around it? If there was a way to do that, I really wanted to know it. 

“Oh, wait. We should check to make sure we can get back to the other side, right?” 

“That seems prudent, yes.” 

This was supposedly a two-way teleporter, but we had no way of knowing if it worked properly or had any limitations. If we’d taken a one-way trip out here, we’d need to hoof it back home the hard way. That would put an end to my plan to make it back before Sylphie gave birth. 

“I guess I’ll—” 

“No, I’ll go. If I’m not back in a few minutes, you can go on without me,” said Elinalise, pushing me back gently. “I don’t fancy the idea of telling Paul that you disappeared because of a malfunctioning teleporter.” 

“Well, all right then. I’ll leave it to you.” 

It didn’t matter that much either way at this point. I wasn’t even sure we were on the right continent yet, for one thing. 

“Okay, sit tight.” 

Elinalise hopped back into the magic circle and abruptly disappeared. I thought I caught a brief glimpse of her being sucked down into the floor. 

This was my first time actually seeing someone get teleported, come to think of it. Did these things move you through the ground somehow? 

“…” 

For the moment, there wasn’t much to do but wait. I trusted Nanahoshi’s memory, and from what she said, you didn’t need some magic incantation or special technique to use these things properly. There was a chance Orsted had used some sort of magical implement, but we’d made out here easily enough. I wanted to think the return trip would be just as smooth. 

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then fifteen. 

“She’s sure taking her time… Hmm?” 

Just as I was beginning to get concerned, Elinalise finally showed up again. It was like watching the teleport happen in reverse: she popped up out of the floor in a fraction of a second. 

She looked a bit woozy for a moment, but nodded when she met my gaze. “We’re all right, Rudeus. It works just fine.” 

“Really? I was starting to get worried. You took longer than I expected.” 

“What? I didn’t spend more than a few seconds on the other side.” 

The teleportation process wasn’t literally instant, then. But a few minutes to take a trip halfway across the world wasn’t a bad deal. It sounded like we were looking at maybe seven minutes of lag per trip. 

Come to think of it, I’d heard something about the Fittoan Displacement Incident that seemed relevant. There had supposedly been an odd delay between the disappearances and when people reappeared elsewhere. Was it Sylphie who’d told me that? 

Teleportation might be a rapid means of travel, but it wasn’t instantaneous. Maybe it was more like a Boson Jump. 

“Well, no big deal. You made it back, and that’s what matters.” 

“I suppose so.” 

If these things were too dangerous, Orsted wouldn’t be using them. And we’d at least confirmed that we could get back home. 

“Shall we be on our way, then?” 

Feeling somewhat reassured, I made my way over to the stone stairs leading upward. 

The instant we reached the first floor, I noticed a sharp increase in the temperature. 

The air was brutally hot. It didn’t feel too humid, at least, which made sense if we were in the middle of a desert, like we were supposed to be. 

The first floor looked virtually identical to the ruin we’d left behind in the forest. The main difference was the sand carpeting the floors and the lack of vegetation on the walls. I noticed a few footprints here and there. Those were Orsted’s, presumably. If we bumped into each other, I’d have to grovel at his feet faster than he could kill me. 

There were four rooms here as well, and the layout was identical. In one of them, however, we found a few thick white capes and water canteens. More of Orsted’s possessions, presumably. 

“What should we do about our footsteps? Think I should erase them?” 

“Are you worried about that Orsted person? I think it’s rather unlikely that we’ll run into him…” 

True, but I was still kind of scared. Maybe I should leave behind a message? Tell him Nanahoshi had told me about this place, and I was only using it because of a family emergency? Promise to keep it secret, and beg him not to be angry with me? 

…Then again, there was no telling when he’d even be here next. He might never find out we’d been here in the first place, in which case, leaving a letter would just be asking for trouble. After a few moments, I decided not to bother. 

We took some time to look through the ruin, just in case, but there wasn’t anything else of note. Orsted wasn’t lurking on the premises either, of course. 

After exploring the ruin thoroughly, we set foot outside for the first time. 

It was hot out there. Very hot. The word hot was kind of inadequate, to be honest. The wind actually hurt my face. 

All I saw in front of me was a sea of rolling sand dunes. It looked like one of the pictures I’d seen of the Sahara back in my previous life. 

The sun was already starting to set. Wasn’t it better to travel at night in the desert, though? Wait, no. Maybe it was more dangerous because the temperature would drop below freezing? Not that things necessarily worked the same in this world… 

…I seemed to remember that desert-dwelling monsters were more active at night. If we wandered around in the dark and got ambushed, things could get dicey. 

“What do you think we should do, Elinalise?” I asked. 

“We won’t get far before the sun sets if we set out now. It’s a little early, but I think we ought to take the chance to rest with a roof over our heads.” 

We ended up deciding to spend the night in the ruins. 

The night proved just as frigid as I’d feared. 

I’d gotten used to cold up in the north. But the rapid way the temperature shifted here made it harder to endure. 

We were okay for the moment, since we had thick stone walls to shelter behind. But we’d have to think about how to stay warm when we were camping outdoors. Maybe I could make us some temporary shelter with magic? Earth Fortress was a nice spell for that…but you had to keep feeding it mana, or it would crumble. If I tinkered with it a little, maybe I could create a simple igloo-style structure that would hold itself together. Then we could make a fire inside to warm ourselves up. Yeah, that seemed like a plan. 

For tonight, though, we decided to just wrap ourselves up in our sleeping bags on the floor. I took some time to recharge Elinalise’s magical implement before turning in. This involved putting both my hands on the diaper to channel mana into it. I felt like a bit of an idiot, to be honest. 

“Rudeus,” Elinalise murmured, “if you find yourself running out of mana, you can put off recharging this thing for a while.” 

“But if I stop feeding it mana, you won’t be able to contain yourself, right?” 

“Your magic is going to be crucial every time we enter combat. We have to prioritize your ability to fight.” 

The monsters on the Begaritt Continent weren’t, on average, as fierce as those on the Demon Continent. But some were supposedly of comparable strength. Letting down our guard might prove fatal. 

“Don’t worry about it. This isn’t much of a strain on my mana supply, honestly.” 

“Really? I swear, your mana’s like a bottomless well…” 

“Kind of like your sex drive.” 

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m that horny, dear.” 

If I slacked off on filling this thing up with mana, and Elinalise went into seductress mode, we’d be in trouble. I probably wouldn’t be able to resist if she attacked me. There were too many convenient excuses available: Just this once. It’ll be our little secret. I tried to stop her, but she forced the issue. 

And if I gave in to that kind of pressure, it might end up ruining our lives. I mean, what if she got pregnant? Cliff would hate me for the rest of my life, and Sylphie might never forgive me either. Not to mention what my little sisters might think. 

I just couldn’t imagine a single good thing coming of me sleeping with Elinalise. If we really couldn’t stop ourselves, maybe I could at least convince her to stop at oral… 

Ugh, no. I shouldn’t even be thinking like that. 

I was obviously a little backed up myself at this point. I’d been spending a lot of time over the last week with my arms wrapped around Elinalise. We hadn’t done anything remotely sexual, but you can’t blame a young guy for getting a little horny. I’d have to see to my own needs tonight when I was on guard duty or something. 

“Well, let’s go to sleep, shall we? I imagine we’ll be moving through this desert for some time, so we ought to be saving our strength.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” 

Much as I wanted to conserve my energy, though, I needed to expend some tonight. Sometimes it isn’t easy being a man. 

Later that night, as I was lying inside the ruins, a sweet smell wafted through the air. 

Instantly, I felt my heart start pounding in my chest. 

Opening my eyes, I saw Elinalise grimacing in her sleep, with her sword clutched in her arms. 

I found myself studying her pale neck and slender hands. Her face looked a bit like a more grown-up version of Sylphie’s. She was tall and willowy too. Especially below the waist, her figure was about as perfect as I’d ever seen. 

And wasn’t she supposedly really, really good in the sack, too…? 

“Hah…haah…” 

All of a sudden, my log had grown into a towering oak, and my thoughts were clouded with desire. 

“Mm…” 

Elinalise wriggled around in her sleep. Her blanket slipped off, and I got a good look at her thighs and tight leather shorts. 

The woman had a nice butt. I wanted to give it a squeeze. Without consciously meaning to, I reached out. I wanted to touch her very, very badly. 

My fingers reached her thighs. They really were amazingly slender. 

Elinalise let out a little sound and parted her legs slightly. Was she trying to seduce me or what? 

It felt increasingly impossible for me to stop myself. Why did it matter, anyway? We could make it a one-time thing. She wasn’t going to refuse me. She’d keep it to herself. It wouldn’t be a problem. 

“Cliff…” 

But then she murmured that name in her sleep, and I came to my senses. 

Turning around, I crawled out of the room on all fours, then fled outside the building entirely. 

I’d thought I was still okay for now, but I’d obviously been neglecting my body’s needs for way too long. I’d nearly gotten carried away by a momentary surge of lust. It was past time for me to blow off some steam, if you know what I mean. 

Sitting down on top of a nearby sand dune, I started to lower my pants… and then heard a noise. I wasn’t alone out here. 

“…Hm?” 

Had Elinalise followed me outside? Looking around me, I spotted a very sexy woman standing not too far away. 

It was freezing cold out here, but she was dressed up like a dancing girl. Her clothes were skimpy enough that they’d probably be transparent in the light of day. She had short curly hair, probably black in color. It was hard to make out her skin tone in the darkness, but her body shone palely against the inky sky. 

More importantly, she had a nice body. Curves in all the right places, you know? She made Elinalise look like a plank of wood. 

The woman put a finger to her mouth and licked it seductively. I found myself staring, transfixed, at her lips. 

Slowly, patiently, she walked over to me. And then she crouched down, slowly spreading her legs apart. The sweet smell I’d caught a whiff of earlier flooded into the air, far more powerful than before. It hit me like a tidal wave. 

I swallowed loudly. There was something warm running down my chin. When I touched my face, I found I had a nosebleed. 

“Heh heh…” 

The woman reached out her hand invitingly to me. I accepted it and let her draw me forward onto— 

“Rudeus!” 

In that instant, there was a shout from inside the ruins. 

The woman jumped backward. A split second later, Elinalise slashed her sword through the air where she’d been. Before I could react, Elinalise had positioned herself between me and my seductress. 

“Get a hold of yourself, stupid!” she cried. 

“Huh?” 

I didn’t know how to react. But Elinalise was already raising her shield and charging at the woman. 

“Keeeaaah!” 

The woman let out a high-pitched shriek, and her nails grew to an unnatural length. Her body itself was changing shape. Fully formed wings burst from her back and she beat them fiercely, trying to lift off the ground. 

Elinalise was already on her. Swinging her shield sharply into the woman’s face, she sent her crashing to the ground. And once she had the thrashing woman pinned in place with her foot, she stabbed her sword down. 

“Gyeeaaah…” 

The woman let out one final, eerie cry, but Elinalise just pushed the blade deeper. 

After a moment, she jumped backward. The woman twitched and spasmed a few times, but soon stopped moving. She was dead. 

“Huh…?” 

I looked on in a state of shock. My mind didn’t want to make sense of these events. And my little guy still hadn’t gone back to normal yet. 

What the hell? What just happened? 

As I sat there stupefied, Elinalise turned around and slapped me in the face. 

“Wake up already! That thing was a Succubus!” 

“Huh? A Succubus? Wait, really?” 

That dead thing lying on the ground had looked like a normal woman to me…albeit one with giant bat wings and weirdly long claws. 

Oh. Now that I looked more closely, her skin was actually bright blue. And her face wasn’t quite human either. 

She did have a really nice body, though. Before she died, at least. Maybe I could still cop a feel. 

“Yes. This is the first one I’ve ever seen, but I’m positive,” Elinalise said. “I guess that foul stench they omit wasn’t just an urban legend.” 

“What foul stench?” 

It had struck me as a nice fragrance, actually. And kind of arousing. But anyway… 

I found myself staring at Elinalise again. She didn’t have much of a chest, but her face was gorgeous, and her legs were shapely. And that butt, my god… 

“Hmm. Elinalise, you’ve got a really nice body, you know…” 

“What? Uh, Rudeus? Pull yourself together, please.” 

It was no big deal, right? The woman loved sleeping around. If I complimented her enough, she’d let me in her pants. 

“You know, I’ve always dreamed about making love to a girl like you…” 

“I’ll tell Sylphie if you keep this up.” 

“Hey, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.” 

Rising to my feet, I started to walk slowly toward Elinalise. She raised her shield and backed away from me. 

“Damn, that’s right,” she muttered. “Succubi can bewitch men, can’t they?” 

“Come on, babe… Let’s have some fun…” 

Elinalise frowned, then sighed… 

“Hmph!” 

And then smacked her shield into my face. I fell back hard onto the sand, bright lights flashing before my eyes. 

That didn’t matter, though. I had more important things to worry about. Like having sex with Elinalise. 

“Haah… haah… Come on, babe. You won’t regret it, I promise…” 

“Oh, good lord. Rudeus, use Detoxification magic on yourself. And keep using it until you count to ten.” 

“Detoxification magic? If I do that, will you let me screw you?” 

“…We’ll figure that out later. Just do it, all right?” 

Panting loudly, I started to cast my Detoxification spells—beginning with the most basic and working my way up to the Intermediate incantations. After I’d completed a few of those, though, my body suddenly felt a lot lighter. 

“…Huh?” 

It was if the fog inside my head had lifted all at once. My lower body was still a little overactive, but my desperate need for sex was already fading away. 

I looked over at Elinalise. She was an attractive woman, to be sure. But those were my only thoughts. 

“I did hear that the scent of the Succubus has the ability to drive men out of their minds. I see that part was true as well.” Elinalise slowly sheathed her sword, then folded her arms with a sigh. “…Good grief.” 

“…” 

What was I even doing up until a moment ago? 

I searched my memory for the words I’d spoken over the last few minutes. 

…Shit. 

“Let’s go back to sleep, shall we? And do try to be a little more careful next time.” Elinalise was already turning around to return to the ruins. 

Fidgeting awkwardly in embarrassment, I called out to her. “Uhm, Miss Elinalise… I’m very sorry about all that.” 

Elinalise looked back at me suspiciously, but then grinned in amusement at the look on my face. “What was that line again? I’ve always dreamed about making love to a girl like you? ” 

I could feel my face heating up. It wasn’t my fault! The Succubus made me do it! 

“ Come on, babe. You won’t regret it! ” 

“Ugggh…” 

God damn it, this was seriously humiliating. 

Smirking, Elinalise walked over to me and thumped me on the head. “It’s all right, I understand. The thing has that effect on people, you know? It’s hardly your fault. I won’t tell Sylphie or Paul about this.” 

“You’re a saint, Elinalise!” 

“Just try not to trust me too blindly, all right? I can control myself for the moment, but my curse will only grow stronger with time. At some point, I won’t be able to hold back.” 

“Yeah. Okay. If it happens, it happens.” 

“No, stupid! You’re supposed to stop me if it comes to that!” 

“Right, right.” 

Shaking her head, Elinalise smiled gently. “I guess I’ll be going to sleep, then. You stay on guard duty for now, please. Oh, and make sure you burn that body.” 

“Got it.” 

With that, she walked back inside the ruin. I still couldn’t help feeling guilty about the way I’d treated her, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. 

I needed to burn the Succubus’s body and bury its bones. Up close, it wasn’t quite as attractive—its features were kind of bat-like, actually. I guess it looked human enough if you squinted, but I couldn’t understand why I’d been so turned on by it before. 

I could have sworn it looked like a beautiful girl at first. Maybe it only revealed its real form when its true nature was exposed, like vampires in horror movies. 

Still, I hadn’t been imagining that figure. The creature’s body was voluptuous, all right. Maybe that was the real problem. From the neck down, it was like a much bustier version of Elinalise with wings. 

Okay, let’s try to get our mind off this subject. This had been a very close call. If Elinalise hadn’t come leaping out in the nick of time, what would have become of me? Maybe this thing would have taken me by the hand, lured me out somewhere, and sucked the life right out of me. 

Ugh, damn it… I’ve still got a bad case of the blue balls… 

Just another reason to resent this thing. At this rate, I really might throw myself on Elinalise before too long. Maybe I should relieve myself before I go back in there. 

…keeping an eye out for Succubi, of course. 

It was only our first night on the Begaritt Continent, and this journey was already proving to be a real challenge.