Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race

Eris watched Ghislaine with a worried expression as the warrior began to awaken. Her eyes opened slowly, and she tried to sit up quickly, but a muscle spasm sent a wave of intense pain through her body. Ghislaine gasped, forcing herself to support her weight with her hands. Her wounds were deep, and the pain was nearly unbearable.

She turned her eyes toward Eris, ensuring she was safe. The young girl's calm appearance seemed to ease some of the tension in her body. Finally, Ghislaine looked at Rygar, who was sitting at a distance, silently observing her.

"Hello!" Rygar said with a light smile.

Ghislaine reached for her waist, searching for her sword, but it was not there. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the blade was missing. Rygar pointed toward a distant rock, where the sword rested.

"Your sword is over there. But your injuries were severe. I recommend you rest a bit before moving again."

Ghislaine sat up slowly, still feeling the pain, and looked around. The place was different from what she remembered, but she didn't feel rushed to understand her surroundings. She glanced at Eris once more before returning her attention to Rygar. Silence hung in the air for a moment until she finally spoke with unmistakable seriousness.

"For saving us and keeping Eris safe until now, I owe you a debt. Thank you."

Rygar looked slightly surprised, a shadow of confusion crossing his face. "Don't you want to know who I am? Or why I saved you?"

Ghislaine remained impassive. "A debt is a debt, regardless of who you are or your motives. But yes, I'd need to know your name to repay it in the future. For now, my concern is ensuring Eris's safety and returning her to Lord Sauros's mansion."

Before she could finish, Eris interrupted anxiously. "Ghislaine! You need to teach him a lesson! He—"

Eris stopped mid-sentence, looking at Ghislaine's injuries, her worry growing. Ghislaine looked at her with an expression of doubt and confusion. Frustrated at not being able to seek revenge, Eris turned her gaze toward Rygar with an irritated, almost murderous look. Rygar, however, remained unperturbed and chuckled softly.

"The girl mentioned… you're from Fittoa, on the Asura Continent?"

Ghislaine, still alert and vigilant, confirmed, "Yes, that's correct."

Rygar let out a muffled laugh. "Well, this really is an impossible situation for you, then. You're now on the other side of the world. This is the Blue Dragon Range, in Millis. I don't know how you ended up here, but the journey back might be… a bit long."

Ghislaine froze, her expression a mix of shock and apprehension. Eris beside her frowned, not fully understanding.

"Is that far, Ghislaine?!" she asked, her tone growing more concerned.

Ghislaine remained silent for a moment, thoughtful, and whispered, "Indeed... Tallhand once told me the only home of the blue dragons was in the Blue Dragon Range, but I didn't think of it during the battle."

She looked at Eris with a reassuring smile, trying to hide the worry in her eyes. "Young miss, don't worry. I will get you back home. However, the journey might take some time."

Eris brightened at those words, smiling happily. But moments later, she frowned, glared at Rygar, and, with renewed determination, demanded:

"What's your name? I won't forget what you did!"

Rygar chuckled softly, his eyes gleaming with a hint of humor. "Pleasure to meet you both. I'm Rygar Adoldia."

After confirming Ghislaine was stable and Eris seemed fine, Rygar stood up and left the cave, saying he'd be back soon. The faint light outside revealed a sky filled with blue dragons flying in circles, roaring in evident irritation. He watched them for a moment, attentive, before descending the uneven terrain in search of twigs and firewood. When he returned, he carried what was needed to build a fire, ensuring the area remained secure.

Inside the cave, Rygar stacked the wood, using fire magic to light the flames with precision. Then, he opened a stone 'box,' pulled out a piece of the mutant dragon he had defeated, and began preparing it. He molded the ground around the fire with magic to create an improvised grill. Both Ghislaine and Eris watched in fascination as he manipulated the elements with incredible skill.

Eris was the first to speak, her eyes shining with curiosity. "Hey! How do you do that?!"

Ghislaine, more serious, added, "Indeed, I'm also surprised. I've seen some mages in my life, but none of them were capable of what you're showing. Your magical proficiency is almost unbelievable, considering you must be only 12 or 13 years old."

As she spoke, Ghislaine observed Rygar closely with her magic eye. Noticing the strain was beginning to weigh on her vision—her normal eyepatch was lost during the battle with the dragons—she tore a piece of cloth from her clothes and improvised a new one to rest the overworked eye.

Rygar chuckled lightly, looking at both of them but mostly at Ghislaine. "That's chantless magic. It's certainly a rare skill, but you could say I had the best teacher to teach me magic. And, to correct you, I'm 10 years old, miss."

Ghislaine's eyes narrowed, not with distrust but rather careful analysis. Before she could respond, Rygar continued, looking directly at her: "I've heard many stories about Ghislaine Dedoldia in the Great Forest. None of them were very good. I never imagined you'd become such a powerful swordswoman after leaving."

Eris crossed her arms with a proud smile as if the compliment were directed at her. Ghislaine, on the other hand, maintained her serious demeanor, studying Rygar. Finally, she spoke: "From what I see in your movements, you're also a practitioner of the Sword God Style…"

"Yes," Rygar replied, inclining his head slightly, "but not as skilled as you."

Ghislaine raised an eyebrow. "You're also a very powerful mage. I've never heard of that lightning magic you used. It's extremely fast and hard to dodge."

Rygar smiled, his eyes narrowing. "Even so, I don't think it'd be fast enough to use against you in a fight."

Ghislaine remained silent for a moment before responding, her voice laced with respect. "Perhaps not."

Eris, gradually regaining her energy now that Ghislaine was awake, interrupted the exchange of words with a direct challenge. "Hey, so you know how to use a sword too, don't you? Fight me! But no magic!"

Rygar looked at her with an amused expression as he pulled the skewers from the fire. He had found some "herbs and natural spices" around the cave and was curious to test their flavor on the meat. Calmly, he asked, "And your sword? Where is it?"

Eris looked around, confused, before blushing as she realized she had lost it during the fight in the cave.

Rygar chuckled softly, though his eyes gleamed with interest. He recalled watching her as they ran into the cave — Eris's instinctive use of touki was promising, though she herself seemed unaware of it. Testing her would be interesting.

"Forget it," he said as he used earth magic to create a stone sword. Tossing it to her, he created another one for himself. "Take this."

Eris hesitated for a moment but soon grinned and assumed a stance from the Sword God Style, her eager smile revealing her excitement. She had the look of a beast, and Rygar couldn't help but wonder if she was of mixed blood — she was truly ferocious and seemed impatient to fight him.

"Haaaaaaaah!" she yelled, charging with a wild cry.

Rygar didn't move. He stopped her strike with ease, holding his stone sword firmly. Eris stepped back and attacked again, this time switching between several different positions.

Rygar remained impassive, carefully analyzing her movements. After a few moments, he sighed, disappointed. "Is that all?"

Before she could reply, he moved his sword swiftly, disarming her with a light strike to her wrist. The stone blade was pointed at her neck before she could recover.

Eris froze, her eyes wide in shock.

"You've got talent," Rygar said, pulling the sword back. "But you need a lot of training to be a real threat."

Eris clenched her fists, furious, while Ghislaine observed the scene with an appraising look. The young man seemed far more skilled than she had expected — and not just in magic. An advanced swordsman could easily defeat Eris, but not like this. He hadn't exerted himself at all, as if he were merely evaluating her skills.

"Young lady, don't bother challenging him again. He's already at the Sword Saint level," Ghislaine stated emotionlessly.

Eris stared at her in shock and chose to deny it. "Him?! Impossible!"

Ghislaine then turned her gaze to Rygar. Though her expression didn't show it, she too was extremely surprised. Rygar merely smiled as Eris grew increasingly frustrated.

Changing the subject, Rygar decided to steer the conversation in a different direction. "How did you end up in the cave?" He looked directly at Ghislaine, expecting an explanation.

The swordswoman seemed to ponder for a moment. "We were in Roa, in the Asura Kingdom, when it happened..." She paused, searching for the right words.

"A white light exploded after a large concentration of mana appeared in the sky. The next thing I knew, we were thrown into this cave. There were blue dragons everywhere. They attacked us the moment we arrived."

Eris remained silent, clenching her fists.

Rygar nodded, visualizing the scene. He could imagine the fierce battle against the creatures and the desperation of finding shelter. "What about the rest of the city? Do you think the entire city of Roa was affected? Was everyone teleported?"

Ghislaine seemed to consider this. "I don't know. We didn't see anyone else in the cave with us. It might have been a local event... or something much larger."

Rygar fell silent for a moment, reflecting on the implications. If it was an isolated incident, their luck was worse than he'd imagined. But if an entire city — or even more places — had been affected, the impact would be catastrophic.

"So you don't know who or what caused this?" Rygar pressed.

"No," Ghislaine replied in a tone that closed the topic.

Meanwhile, the aroma of roasted meat began to fill the cave, bringing a temporary sense of calm. The confrontation might have ended, but the respect — and curiosity — between them had only started to grow.

Rygar silently observed as Ghislaine grabbed one of the skewers and bit into the meat, her serious expression unchanged. Beside her, Eris, still furious over the "fight" and seemingly frustrated for some reason, grabbed another skewer. She eyed the meat with a mix of doubt and determination before taking her first bite.

It didn't take long for Rygar to notice their reactions: Ghislaine remained expressionless, chewing slowly, while Eris made a slight grimace but said nothing.

"Didn't like it?" Rygar asked, intrigued. "To be honest, I've never been a good cook."

Ghislaine stared at him, her voice firm as she replied, "It's very good. I've eaten worse."

Eris, who seemed on the verge of complaining, glanced at Ghislaine and quickly agreed. "Yes! It's good!"

Rygar frowned. He was absolutely certain the meat was terrible. He'd tried it himself and almost spat out the first bite. The meat was overcooked, the "spices" he'd found were nothing more than moss that left a faint muddy taste, and the smell was a strange mix of smoke and damp earth.

Still, while Eris was clearly lying just to agree with Ghislaine, he could see in the swordswoman's eyes that she was being sincere. That left him both confused and curious. What could be worse than this? He shook his head, unable to find an answer.

Taking a deep breath, he changed the subject. "We'll stay here until tomorrow. By my estimation, you should be fully recovered by then." He paused, nodding toward the cave entrance. "The dragons are still agitated. With any luck, things will calm down by tomorrow, and we can head to the dwarves' city. You can rest there before continuing your journey."

Ghislaine finished her skewer and stood, crossing her arms as she stared at him. She remained silent for a few moments as if evaluating something. Finally, she asked directly, "Why are you helping us? I'm still indebted to you for saving us, but what's your reason for continuing to guide us?"

The question made Rygar pause for a moment. He stared into the campfire, trying to formulate an answer.

At first, he thought of the justification he had given himself before and planned to tell them: Ghislaine was of the same race as him. Perhaps it was natural to help her. But as he reflected more deeply, he realized that wasn't all. There was something more.

He was intrigued by Ghislaine. She was the first person he had encountered who truly seemed stronger than him after reaching the Sword Saint level. Until now, he hadn't met anyone individually as strong as he was — not the Black Troll he fought, not Fendrel, not Gallus, nor any of the dwarf warriors in the dwarves' city. None had given him a real sense of threat. Ghislaine was different. Even after reaching the Sword Saint level and King rank in two magic disciplines, Rygar had never felt a clearer threat than when he saw her fighting the dragons.

Of course, he could easily win if he attacked from a distance, but he was almost certain he'd lose his head before he could do anything if he fought her up close.

Furthermore, there was still Hitogami. Could he tell that he wasn't acting exactly as he wanted?

Beyond that, the teleportation incident also piqued his curiosity. And Eris, being a noble, could be a valuable asset in his long-term plans for the Iron Legion.

Finally, he smiled at Ghislaine, a light, almost teasing, but honest smile. "Just curiosity," he replied.

Ghislaine narrowed her eyes but didn't press further. She turned and returned to where she had been sitting, seeming to accept the answer.