Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume SS - Chapter 37

Short Story:

The Throne 

NORN GREYRAT HAD no grand ambitions. She was an ordinary woman and a commoner. Yes, she had an older brother and sister who were a little too exceptional, but Norn was just another average girl who would have been happy with a quiet, pleasant life, doing her best where she could and marrying someone she loved.

That day, Norn was getting food from the storehouse like usual. In the Superd Village, food was stocked in the storehouse as a shared resource from which each household took home what they needed to cook.

Formerly, the cooking had been done in the village kitchen, with people taking home the finished product or eating it there, but the current system had been adopted as a measure against the plague.

Accordingly, Norn was taking ingredients back to Ruijerd’s house, but on that day, she took a little more than usual. Just a day earlier, her older brother had shown up at Ruijerd’s house accompanied by a demon king with a gigantic appetite and her son, and as a result, they had run out of food.

Barely able to carry all her supplies with both hands, Norn decided to give her arms a rest and take a break on her way home. She looked around and saw a chair in the perfect spot. What was it doing there? It hadn’t been there the other day. But even as she thought this, she reasoned, Until the other day, Big Brother and the others were fighting. Maybe someone put down a chair so they could take a rest. She had no particular doubts about it.

And so, Norn sat down without a thought. She didn’t mean anything by it. And, to re-emphasize, she, of course, had no ambitions.

“Here we go…” Norn sat down. The moment she did so, all the people doing their training drills a little way off from the chair stared at her open-mouthed. But Norn did not notice. She wasn’t sensitive enough to her surroundings for that. Otherwise, she might have had an easier time in life, and Aisha wouldn’t have teased her so much. 

“Hey, Norn. What’re you doing here?” There, calling out to Norn, was none other than Rudeus.

“Oh, Big Brother. Nothing really. I just sat down to rest for a bit. The bags were so heavy…”

Rudeus grinned. “No doubt, no doubt,” he said, nodding. “All right, I’ll carry them for you.”

“Would you really? Thank you.” 

Thanks to the magic armor he wore, Rudeus was very strong. Even without it, he was still stronger than Norn. As such, she was only too happy to accept his offer. Once, she would have pouted and said, “No, thank you,” but now, perhaps thanks to her stint as the student council president at the University of Magic, she had grown accustomed to relying on people.

She didn’t need to rest if her big brother would carry the food for her. She had just begun to stand up when—

“Uh oh. Too late,” said Rudeus. Wondering what he meant, Norn looked at him.

“Eep.” The squeak slipped out from the back of her throat. This was because Demon King Atoferatofe, famed even on the Demon Continent as fear incarnate, was striding toward them with a swagger.

“Yoooou!” Atofe howled.

She could probably flatten the likes of Norn with her little finger. Overcome by primal fear, Norn cowered, but Rudeus took a step forward. Protecting her.

“I’m sorry, Lady Atofe. My little sister, she just couldn’t help herself.”

At this, Atofe, who had looked ready to grab hold of Norn, pulled up short.

“Couldn’t help herself?” She repeated.

“Yes. She looks up to you, you see.”

“Heh…heh heh…mwaaahahahahaha! You don’t say! She does, does she?”

What in the world were they talking about? Norn looked dubiously around them. The Superd warriors were watching her anxiously. At last, it hit Norn. Yet again, she had put her foot in something. She just wasn’t sure exactly what.

“In that case, I shall make an exception for her. When I was young, I got in trouble with my father when I tried to steal his throne!”

“I am sincerely grateful for your generosity!”

“Eh heh heh. That being said, it is still my throne. Mind you don’t get comfortable, eh?”

“Of course. I think she’s more than satisfied already. Right, Norn?” At Rudeus’s nudge, Norn clicked. This was Atoferatofe’s chair.

“Y-yes. It was amazing. Thank you very much!” Norm jumped to her feet and bobbed her head to Atofe. Then she took hold of the bags left beside the chair and got moving in a hurry. Rudeus stuck to her like a bodyguard, meaning she still had to be in danger.

“Heheheh,” Atofe chuckled. “Next time you come after my throne, do it to my face. I’ll meet your challenge.”

“…Yes, ma’am,” Norn replied weakly. As she did so, she made a promise to herself. She would not go near it. Never again, Not ever.

“That was a close shave,” Rudeus said. 

“Ohh,” Norn whimpered. “Big Brother, thank you…”

“It’s a good thing I noticed first. She’s like a really territorial bear, so you’ve got to watch out for chairs and things. You understand?”

“How am I supposed to know which ‘chairs and things’…?” Norn replied.

Rudeus made a face. “I see your point.”