Leon Greyrat: The Second Son – Mushoku Tensei OC

Chapter 136 – Reformation

— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —

“Sir Milton! What do you think you’re doing!?” Claire shouted in anger. “Do you think that just being the cardinal’s sword would absolve you of any crimes!?”

“Hah. Not a chance… but tell me, Claire Latreia, who will administer any punishment to the Temple Knights itself?” he said, sending a smirk my way. “Perhaps this guy? I admit, even I can tell that he’s impressive, but do you think he can stop all of our combined might?”

Yes… indeed I did.

“It seems that the faction has already labelled you as an enemy, Grandmother,” I said. “Rudy, Eris surely heard that explosion and sensed the culprits, so she should be coming over quite quickly. Once you see her, take everyone to rescue the current Pope.”

“Understood, Leon!” he said, turning around.

“W-Wait! Leon, this… this is the faction’s main combat force!” Claire said.

So it was…

From what I could tell from an initial glance, these guys were mostly Saint ranks, with a few standout King and Emperor ranks, including this ‘Milton’, who while only having the touki of a Water Emperor, felt… a little stronger than that.

But having them all together?

“Then this just makes it easier…” I said, feeling a small smirk grow on my face. “Go on ahead, and leave these guys to me… it won’t take long.”

I could sense some hesitation from Therese and Claire, but with Mama pulling them along, they seemed to finally trust my words.

“Leon, don’t get hurt, okay?” Mama said.

“Got it. And the same goes for you,” I said, slashing outwards as a few swordsmen tried to give chase, instantly bisecting them as their bodies tumbled to the ground. “But you guys… you aren’t going anywhere.”

With my family having left, I was left with the now-frowning Milton as he slowly revealed his greatsword from his back.

“You… what is your connection to the Latreia House? And your strength… it’s unnatural,” he said as his comrades slowly approached to surround me.

“Well… as for the strength, that’s just the product of luck and hard work, and as for the connection…” I said, smiling. “I just came to clear up some stuff.”

“Leon Greyrat… it’s you, isn’t it?” Milton grumbled. “He said you would cause trouble once your survival was revealed… thankfully, he gave me enough strength to end you!”

‘He’?

What was he talking…? Oh.

This guy… he must be an apostle, right?

Orsted did say that the Man-God could grant strength to his followers, but he also told me that I didn’t need to worry about it too much, as at my level, the growth would be nothing but an ‘annoyance’.

My eyes tracing across the rows of my gathered opponents, I noticed that more than a few of them were not even twenty yet, their eyes bright with anticipation to take me down.

Haa… I sure have gotten soft, haven’t I?

“You know… as a father, I find myself growing a distaste for killing. Just think… all of you have parents, right? Or kids, or at least a family… do you really want to die simply for facing me on the orders of your corrupted cardinal?” I asked, enhancing the touki flowing throughout my body.

Yes… lives had values, and as I saw my beautiful children grow older, that idea was only enhanced.@@novelbin@@

Of course, I was fairly certain that the moral values of Kaito were influencing me as well, but it was true that as a father, I could see people a little more kindly.

So…

“I’ll give you a chance,” I said firmly. “Leave now, and either throw away your sword, or pledge it to the current Pope. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your survival.”

Unfortunately, they didn’t listen, with five of them, including Milton, launching forward with their swords drawn.

Of course, that wouldn’t work… even when I made such an earnest plea…

“Tch. Well, if you’re that enthusiastic…” I muttered, feeling a smile form on my face. “Then give Saint Millis a smile when you meet him!”

With the element of gravity entangled in the many concentrated layers of touki covering my sword, with a single movement, I launched the power on my blade outward, the world seeming as if it had come to a pause as I finished my movement.

And a moment later, every single one of the Temple knights before me crumpled over, their bodies separated into two equal halves, killing them all.

Not even blood splattered on the walls from how clean the cut was.

As I sheathed my sword, my eyes twitched as the nearby walls collapsed, with part of the ceiling falling down as the entire mansion groaned in protest.

And looking outside at the yard before me, many of the trees had fallen down as well, with the outside wall having a straight line that extended across it.

Ah… right.

I hadn’t fought anyone seriously since Laplace and those monsters in the Dragon World, so my strength… it seems that I had underestimated it.

…Maybe I would need to ask Orsted for that restraining spell of his so that I didn’t accidentally destroy anything in the future, or at least until I got acclimated to my power once more.

But still… there were around fifty or so knights, yet I had killed them all with one move, and even with Kaito’s memories… I did not have an ounce of discomfort.

Actually, that wasn’t quite right.

Remembering the diary, how they brutally butchered Aisha and Lilia, and would surely do the same to my family if ordered to… well, perhaps I might have felt a little glad at their deaths.

But that lack of discomfort was a good thing.

After all, it wouldn’t be good if Kaito’s values from such a peaceful place where he had lived had transferred over to this world, where hesitation could easily lead to the deaths of either you or your loved ones.

But damn… like this, wasn’t the battle practically already over already?

So soon?

That was… a little anticlimactic, to be honest, but considering how I was likely strong enough to defeat Laplace on my own now, or at least strong enough to put up a good fight… it only made sense that these guys would be so easy to deal with, where even the strongest among them wasn’t a Divine rank swordsman.

“Grhh… ugh…”

Hearing a groan from behind, I turned around with wide eyes only to see the head knight, Milton, slowly struggling to stand up, his skin wriggling across his stomach where I had just cut him in half.

So the Man-God gave him the power of regeneration…

“Hey, you’re still alive, so let’s have a little talk,” I said, walking up to him.

Using my hand to cut off his arms and legs, causing him to fall back to the ground, I kneeled beside his torso as I grasped his brown hair, pulling his head up to look at me.

“So… what is the Man-God doing here?” I asked.

It was a shitty plan, to be honest… but Orsted did say he might have been resting on the assumption that I wouldn’t move for someone not part of my family.

And either way… this was surely not the last of his moves.

“He… hehehe-ack!” he chuckled before coughing, a line of blood dribbling down from his smirking lips towards his chin. “Haa… you… you will definitely receive judgment… even if it isn’t done by me, you will absolutely-!”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, sighing as I let go, his head smacking against the ground.

Such cliché villain lines… yeah, I don’t think he would have provided me with anything useful.

But his arms and legs were already growing back…

Getting back to my feet, I reached out with my hand, conjuring a concentrated ball of flame with the image of oxygen throughout, and with a flick of the wrist, Milton’s body was engulfed in flames, reducing it to ash before he could even utter a cry of pain.

Hmph. Regeneration… just as Orsted had said…

“You were only slightly annoying,” I muttered.

After all, the scent of a burning body really was quite nasty.

— Eris Greyrat —

“Heretics! I’ll end you!”

“Take out the mage and leave the girl to me!”

Idiots.

Raising my sword, I swiftly ran forward, cutting through the first one’s arm as it swung down, and shifting my blade, I cut through the side of the other one that had tried to run behind me, the force of my strike causing both of them to falter.

Of course, I wasn’t one to let such an opening go, and with a quick pivot, I slashed through both of their necks in one smooth motion, sending their heads tumbling to the ground.

And to think I was initially nervous about protecting all these people…

The ones we had gone through had been quite weak, with only a couple somewhat notable fighters that were quickly rendered useless against the combined skill of Rudeus and I.

Besides, while she wasn’t too strong, there was also Leon’s aunt, who was skilled enough with the blade to protect herself.

But now that we were here… I guess that didn’t matter now.

“It’s this one here, right?” I said, nodding towards the giant door in front of us.

“Yes, it should be,” Claire said, narrowing her eyes.

“Alright…”

With another slash of my sword, the door before us was rendered to splinters, revealing quite the luxurious room as I slowly sheathed my blade.

And it seems that those two were the last of the resistance.

“Well… these are the guys that we’re looking for, right?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at the two old men inside, with one of them looking quite scared, while the other scanned our group with wide eyes.

“C-Cliff!? You… didn’t I tell you not to return!?” one of the old men said, stepping forward with a shocked smile.

That must be the Pope, right?

“Sorry, Grandfather… but I couldn’t just sit still,” Cliff said, also walking forward. “And besides… I had some help from my friends.”

“I see… they do seem amazing,” the Pope said, nodding towards us appreciatively.

Looking away from the conversation, I focused on the other old man, whose face was still stricken with fear as his eyes darted between each of us, as well as the two dead knights on the ground.

“Y-You! This… this will not stand! Do you think you can resist the might of an entire-”

Before I could unleash my sword to shut him up, Rudeus summoned a ball of ice that crashed into his head, making the old man, who I assumed was the Cardinal, drop to the ground, unconscious.

Well… I guess that was that.

But thinking we couldn’t resist… this annoying idiot, did he think that Leon was that weak?

I bet my husband had already dealt with all of those other guys before we even reached the main church, where we currently had just run through.

But if he was going to try to make our lives harder…

“Eris, don’t,” Rudy said, walking up to me as I was about to take out my sword.

“Why? Isn’t he the bad guy?” I asked, looking back to the crumpled body with a frown. “Wouldn’t it be better to take him out now? His faction still having supporters is the main troublesome thing, right?”

“Yes, and that’s exactly why it’s better to keep him alive,” Rudy said, crouching down as he created a pair of shackles out of earth magic, binding the old man. “With this, we should be able to spin a good story for our benefit and make any of his lingering supporters look bad to the populace if they don’t switch their allegiance. And as for after his use has run out… well, old people are quite frail, aren’t they?”

…Right.

I didn’t usually like those sneaky methods, as I preferred to just use my strength to fight, but after being with Leon and Ariel for so long, I knew that those methods worked, and were often the best choice in keeping my family safe.

But Rudeus… even though he wasn’t much of a fighter, he could be quite scary himself, huh?

Sara did say that she enjoyed whenever he got aggressive, so… good for her.

Watching as the Pope, Cliff, and Leon’s grandmother began to talk to each other, seemingly exchanging information and planning for what to do after such a big change, I found myself heading back outside the room to rest against the wall, closing my eyes as I waited for them to finish.

It was partly due to standing guard in case any other enemies found their way here, but more importantly, it was because I found those kinds of meetings pretty boring and annoying, especially when it was done by people like Leon’s grandmother.

To think that such a kind woman like Zenith would have a mother like that… while she wasn’t horrible from what I could tell, she was pretty stubborn and irritating.

Wait… wasn’t that kind of like me?

Damn… I know that being a bit stubborn was needed for a mother, but maybe I would calm down a bit with the kids back home… I definitely didn’t want to get so many wrinkles from frowning, like she seems to have done.

“Ah, there you are,” a familiar voice said, causing me to open my eyes with a smile. “I had to ask around to get here, but it seems like everything has been dealt with already.”

He was here… well, there goes my boredom.

“Leon… I guess you already got rid of those knights?” I asked, walking up to meet him.

“Yep, but they weren’t anything special,” he said with a shrug, taking my into his arms as I pressed my face into his chest.

Mmm… his scent was just as comforting as ever… and considering that we probably wouldn’t be heading back home for a while, at least until everything here was sorted, I was more than happy to have him all to myself for the coming nights.

Just thinking of all the stuff we could do… this… and maybe a little bit of that… hehehe…

“And I see that you finished things here as well… good job, Eri, and thank you for protecting everyone in my stead,” he continued, patting my head in the gentle way that made me melt.

Thank you… that meant that I did good, right?

Even if something like this could have been easily handled by my husband… it felt amazing to know that I had helped, even if just a little.

And so, tilting my head up with a beaming smile, I pressed my lips against his, relishing in the taste as my eyes fluttered closed.

Yeah… we definitely weren’t sleeping tonight.

— Leon Anemoi Greyrat —

A week had passed since our first arrival in the Holy Country, and with Eris having left to head back home yesterday, along with Rudy, Mama, and the Miko of Memory, who would be enrolling in the University of Ranoa, things had seemingly come to an end.

I would be following them pretty soon as well, but… I needed to have a little talk with Orsted first.

Anyway, with most of the powerful knights associated with the Demon Race Rejection Faction being wiped out with my blade, as well as the Latreia House revealing their support for the current Pope, it was obvious to anyone which side had won.

Of course, not everyone would accept such a result, but it wasn’t as if they could ever support the Cardinal again, as it had been revealed that he had been sending human child slaves to prominent nobles in other kingdoms for their monetary support.

A… slight lie, on our part.

Now, while it wasn’t completely true, it was easy to spin the story that way, as human slaves did exist in Millis, and more importantly, there was the fact that the Cardinal had been sending child slaves in order to garner support… only that the slaves that he dealt were only beastfolk.

And while the opinion of the public had always veered on the side of the Demon Race Acceptance Faction, the opinion had shifted to complete disregard of the Cardinal’s faction after everything was revealed, which was only cemented as the Latreia House confirmed the rumours and decided to support the current Pope instead.

Besides, with Laplace now dead, there was little to fear of the Demon Race forming another coalition to attack them, and the relations with the beastfolk had only been getting better over the years, so the hate was on its way to being removed from the nation… hopefully.

But I trusted Cliff, and with him being instated as the current Pope’s official successor, he was likely to take over the position after a year or two of learning from his grandfather, as well as gaining influence in the nation.

And with Lina at his side to show the trust of non-human races, I imagine that things would go smoothly, especially since he was friends with Pursena, who should be the leader of her tribe in the Great Forest by now.

But yes… I could trust Cliff to change the Millis Church for the better, or at least make it so they wouldn’t become my family’s enemy, and I could imagine that once Cliff gains a secure hold on the nation, he might even work with Ariel to form a mutually beneficial alliance.

“Leon… you’re here.”

Hearing the low, grating voice, I turned to see Orsted, who had just arrived in my room.

“Yep. Did you have any trouble getting in?” I asked.

“No… though next time, I would prefer if you simply prepared a teleportation circle,” he said, walking over to sit across from me.

Well, those things were quite annoying to make, and there was already one very close to the entrance of the city, so I didn’t think it mattered much.

“I see that you have dealt with things here already,” he then said after sitting down.

“Yeah. It wasn’t anything spectacular, and I’m pretty sure I can leave the rest to Cliff,” I replied with a shrug.

And even if he ended up needing help, I was pretty sure that Rudy would be the first to be asked instead, so I could stay home with my cute little kiddies as much as I wanted.

“I see… and was there any interference from that being?” he asked.

Ah… right.

“Yeah… one of the head knights was his apostles, but it didn’t mean too much in the end,” I said, narrowing my eyes. 

But… just what could be the Man-God’s play here?

“So, as expected, he had gotten involved… and as for his next moves, I am unaware, but I can only assume he is working to maintain a group of followers without being dedicated to only apostles… that is a strategy that he often liked to use,” he said before staring at me. “If the Man-God is making his move, then we need to act faster and retrieve all the sacred treasures… on that note, do you have it?”

“It? Yeah… pretty sure I do,” I said, reaching into my pocket to retrieve the golden ring.

This was another sacred treasure, and I had gotten it from the Pope as payment for my help with everything.

It was apparently classified as a holy relic, but not one of significant importance, especially in recent years, so there wasn’t much bargaining needed to be done.

“I see… that certainly speeds things up,” Orsted said, reaching over to take it as he rubbed his finger along the metal. “Now that we have the ones from the Millis Church and Laplace, there are only three left.”

There was also the need for Shizuka to create that sealing spell… but that would come in time.

“And where are those treasures located again?” I asked.

He stopped rubbing his finger along the ring as he then put it into his pocket, looking over at me for a moment before speaking.

“Yes… there is a small issue with that,” he said, frowning. “The next one we should aim for is located in the lower stratum of the Hell Labyrinth, located in the Divine Continent… I believe that your connection with Perugius will help in traveling there. And another is in the possession of the Technique God… and while he is troublesome, he should not be an enemy if you explain the purpose behind wanting the treasure in killing the Man-God…”

I see… so the first ranked power, the Technique God, who is also the other half of Laplace…

I just hope that he isn’t as insane as his counterpart.

But wait… was that it?

“Didn’t you say there were three more? That’s only two,” I said, confused.

“Yes… that is the very issue I had just mentioned,” Orsted said, shaking his head. “A few months after your return, my assumption that the Man-God’s plan was to remove you and Laplace’s sacred treasure from the world ended up being wrong, so I immediately set out to confirm things…”

Tapping his fingers against his arm, Orsted’s frown somehow deepened even more.

“I set out to retrieve the treasure meant to be kept in the Great Forest, in the hidden tomb of the last Beast God. But when I arrived… it wasn’t there,” he said. “It’s not something that can be easily accessed by chance, and nobody in the past loops ever found it, so this… can only be the work of the Man-God.”

That… wasn’t very good.

That wasn’t very good at all.

“Why didn’t you tell me before?” I asked.

“Because it wasn’t important, and there was no use in disturbing your peace with your family,” he said. “In the end, it is not a completely hopeless situation, as I can still track it using a spell from my homeland. The only issue is that it takes mana and time, so I would prefer to have the rest of the treasures before retrieving it.”

“I see, that makes sense…” I said, placing a hand on my chin. “But if we need to start actively finding them… we should probably start while I’m still in my prime. Unlike you, I doubt that I’ll be around in another eighty or so years, much less at my current strength.”

“Indeed… as you say, we cannot sit idly by,” Orsted said, standing up as he gave me a small smile. “But for now… you can stay with your precious family and enjoy those moments. You have two of your wives pregnant at the moment, correct?”

“Yeah… Ariel and Sylphy, though they’re close to their due date,” I said.

But Ariel did seem a bit bigger than usual…

“Is that so… but yes, stay with them for now, but when it’s time…” he said, turning to the door. “When it is time, I will tell you what to do, and soon enough… the Man-God will see his end.”

And with that slightly ominous premonition, Orsted then went out the door, leaving me alone in the residence that Cliff’s grandfather had rented out to me.

But he was right… I had a family to get back to, and two kids to welcome into the world fairly soon.

And now with two of the five sacred treasures found, and Shizuka beginning work on the sealing spell… the time when I would raise my blade against the Man-God directly felt closer than ever.

— End of Arc 8 - Millis —