Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race Chapter 406: 405 - Lingering Legacy

The king of the Kingdom of Gaia was growing old.

No, to be honest, he had already been old for many years.

Gustav Dedoldia was a fairly well-known name in the current Kingdom of Gaia. During his youth, he had been an exceptional warrior, fighting and standing out above almost everyone else in the Dedoldia Tribe during his physical prime.

But, while still young, he suffered a crippling wound.

His arm was cut off.

Gustav left the Great Forest and traveled toward the Central Continent in search of a healer to reconstruct his arm.

He spent fifteen years away from home, crossing foreign lands, getting to know human cities, hearing different languages, seeing the way other races were treated, and gradually understanding the true position of the beast tribes in the world.

That experience and understanding did not leave him with good emotions.

But it gave him discernment.

It was not for nothing that, later, when he returned with his arm healed, he became the Chief of the Doldia Tribes for many years, leading with patience and care.

Gustav, however, knew his own limits.

He was not an especially wise leader, nor was he notably strong. In his view, he had always looked for better heirs, people capable of leading with more vigor than he could. Even so, while he led, he saw himself as the leader the tribe needed at that moment.

And when he was finally close to reaching his retirement, he was elected king of the newly founded Kingdom of Gaia.

Since then, his days had been somewhat tiring.

With his experience and the assistance of many competent people, Gustav managed to slowly guide the Kingdom of Gaia forward in constant progress.

Just as before, he was not an especially wise king, nor was he notably powerful. He simply ruled with calm and discernment above all else.

Gustav accepted this position for the same reason he accepted being leader of the Doldia. He simply saw himself as the most suitable person at the moment.

If someone asked him who should rule, Gustav would undoubtedly name Rygar or Aisha.

But neither of them had any interest in ruling, mainly because of the effort such a position required.

All this old man could do, tired as he was, was watch his grandchildren and hope one of them would eventually show interest in his throne.

He was already very close to two hundred years old.

And he knew he did not have much time left.

At that moment, Gustav was sitting at his work desk. Beside him, there was a young three-eyed demon woman holding several papers.

The king read one of them carefully.

It was a request for resource allocation to tame or eliminate the Red-Leaf Tigers that were knocking down caravans near the city of Rusvel.

Gustav finished reading, tossed the paper onto the desk, and approved the request, but instructed that an Iron Legion supervisor visit the location to ensure the investment was used exactly where it had been requested.

After that, he looked toward the window.

The city of Tinaver could be seen almost completely from there, since the palace was quite high. Streets, rooftops, walls, towers, trees, transport canals, and administrative buildings formed a landscape that would never have existed in the simple days of the old tribes.

Gustav observed the city for a few moments.

Then he asked:

"Cecil, how are my grandchildren?"

The young demon answered promptly:

"Sir, do you wish to know about each one of them or only someone specific?"

"Tell me about all of them. We are taking a break anyway."

Gustav rose from his chair and stretched his back.

"Let us have some coffee."

He began walking toward the dining room. Despite being king, Gustav did not much like being served as a king usually was. He preferred to get up, walk, and take his own food when he had the opportunity.

Cecil followed right behind him and pulled out a longer report sheet. She quickly cleared her throat and began:

"Starting with the eldest, first, Lady Ghislaine's twins. The firstborn, Diana, remains as usual. She seems quite insensitive, but apparently she is learning to play shogi. She normally does not show much interest in anything besides food, but she continues to act as a mediator between her siblings when necessary. Although she is a little lazy, she makes an effort when she feels she is falling too far behind her brother."

Gustav became thoughtful, listening in silence.

Cecil turned the sheet slightly and continued:

"Perseus can finally use Howling Magic consistently, but does not seem motivated to learn other types of magic. He claims they are too complex. Ah, but he has shown interest in Disturb Magic. I believe it is to fight Miss Aurora. Although he is the one with the greatest physical potential, he has zero interest in anything that involves thinking too much."

Gustav let out an involuntary laugh.

Cecil continued without losing rhythm:

"Miss Aurora is visiting her new friend in Sharia with increasing frequency. She, Iris, and Lara, the daughter of the late Magic God, seem to have become good friends. I think Aurora may be trying to expand her 'faction' in a place where Perseus still has no influence. Although she is very clever and very talented, she shows a clear aversion to politics. Explicitly, she said: a bunch of wicked rats."

Gustav massaged his forehead.

"That sounds like something she would say."

"Yes, sir. Little Iris remains very shy and does not demonstrate grand talents like her siblings. She seems quite attached to Aurora."

Cecil moved to the next part of the report.

"Next are Harris and Hubert, Lady Eris's twins. Both have shown themselves to be quite brave in sword training and are progressing very quickly, which has made Lady Eris quite happy. Harris seems to be more intelligent, while Hubert acts more emotionally, but they are quite close overall."

Gustav nodded slowly.

"That is good. I wish my children had been that close."

Cecil did not comment, merely continued:

"Young Hamish has begun learning the elven style of swordsmanship with his mother, Lady Verdia, but has not yet shown splendid results. He is very attentive toward his siblings and seems quite gentle and peaceful, especially with the youngest."

She checked the last part of the sheet.

"There are still no relevant reports about little Lenna, Lady Ghislaine's youngest, but she can already walk and seems quite energetic, as she runs around a lot."

While Cecil spoke, the two arrived at the dining room. There was a buffet arranged on a long table, preserved cold by an ice device and ready to be quickly heated by a heat tool.

Gustav served himself without hurry, taking coffee and some simple food.

After a few moments, he asked:

"Cecil, considering that I am growing old and too tired to deal with so much paperwork, what would you do in my place?"

The young three-eyed demon answered without hesitation:

"Without a doubt, I would accept the Rejuvenation Magic offered by the Beast God, sir."

Gustav looked at her for a moment in shock.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha! Good answer... But I do not know whether I would like to live another two hundred years. I had already accepted imminent death about thirty years ago, you know?"

Cecil pondered for an instant. And then she spoke, very seriously:

"Sir, with all due respect, I am from the Malard Demon Tribe. We have three eyes and our senses are quite sharp. In addition, we have a special organ that grants us excellent memory and extraordinary reasoning. But we only live until around fifty years old, on average. That is because this same sensory organ that helps us also accelerates the aging of our brain."

She spoke faster and faster, but quite clearly.

"If I had the choice, I would choose to live one hundred, two hundred, even five hundred years. I would live until I grew tired of it. I am already eighteen years old. Even though I became an adult at twelve, I only have about thirty years left, maybe a little more if I am healthy. I think you are looking too much from your own perspective and disregarding the bigger picture, in which you could live these next two hundred years enjoying your life instead of continuing to work."

Gustav was not surprised by Cecil's rushed and almost breathless speech.

As she herself had said, the Malard Tribe was almost entirely like that. They thought faster, calculated everything faster, and spoke faster. It was both a cultural and biological characteristic.

It was not for nothing that Cecil had been hired as his assistant.

Gustav sighed as he thought about her words.

He remembered his friend, Peikak, who had rejuvenated five years earlier and was now enjoying life, even while still being Minister of the Kingdom of Gaia.

Then he looked again at Tinaver through the distant window, weighing his possibilities in silence.

---

Meanwhile, in a small town in the north of the Central Continent, in the Duchy of Basherant, a beastman lived quietly with his family.

This man was in his early thirties and, with a little more attention, it was noticeable that he was mixed.

Half human. Half beast.

His name was Aaron.

Aaron spent all the first years of his life learning how to be a slave.

A slave trained from birth was rare, so he was easily sold at the age of five to an Asuran noble house. There, he received a name and lived as someone else's property.

For twenty years, he followed orders without questioning much.

He witnessed the most horrendous and filthy things being done by so-called noble men, but he was rarely the direct target. Over time, he learned to become as invisible as possible.

He was conditioned to it. They taught him that.

Resistance only led to pain. Obedience could be more comfortable in the long run.

But then Aaron fell in love... with another slave.

From that point on, his ambition was born.

He plotted and tried to flee with his beloved, dreaming of giving her a better life.

But reality was not a fairy tale.

They were caught by a guard.

And before something worse could happen to her, his beloved willingly committed suicide. Meanwhile, Aaron was captured again.

This time, his treatment was ten times worse. He was no longer invisible.

Now he was the target, a slave marked by an attempted escape.

A tragic life, indeed, but there was nothing he could do. After all, everything he had learned throughout his life was how to serve others.

This was slavery in its purest form.

And that was how he lived, for many years... until that noble house was suddenly exterminated by the Iron Legion during the extermination of the Silver Palace.

And he, just as suddenly, was absolutely free.

Aaron fled the capital of Asura together with a group of other slaves, guided and helped by members of the Iron Legion, who gave them food, supplies, and wagons to travel.

Oh, how grateful he was.

Oh, how he wished he had been born in the glorious Nation of Gaia, the nation where all races lived together and slavery did not exist.

But his blood was dirty.

He was born a slave, and if not for the Iron Legion, Aaron would have died a slave.

Even so, despite not knowing how to read or write, despite not mastering any important skill, and despite not knowing his real age, Aaron started over.

He married another slave, who had been freed together with him.

He traveled north and eventually settled in a small village, becoming a lumberjack, while his wife became a weaver.

Both of them knew how to do those things because of their years of slavery.

After a tiring day and finally finishing cutting a large lot of trees, Aaron returned home and sat down with his wife.

Over the last few days, they had been facing a dilemma.

And today, they would make a decision.

Aaron looked at her, restless.

"Do you really think this could be true? It seems a little unreal..."

His wife, Laura, a mixed-blood of the elven race, answered with a bitter smile.

"Although it really is a small chance, it is not zero, right? I mean, that God even spoke about all of your past and mine, and even warned us that I was pregnant. He must not be lying... I think."

Aaron pondered.

A few days ago, a God had appeared in his dreams and told him quite interesting things about his original family.

But Aaron struggled to believe it... because it was simply far too absurd.

After a long silence, he finally gave up resisting the possibility.

"All right... our child will be born soon, and we do not really have much money. Tomorrow I will travel toward the capital of the Duchy and try to send a letter, or something like that."

He smiled, still finding it all impossible.

"Haha! Wouldn't that be funny? Just imagine, living your whole life as a slave when your brother is literally the most powerful thing in the world."

Laura smiled along with him while holding her own belly.

She also did not have much faith that it was true.

"Well, let us wait and see..."

----

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