Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race Chapter 408 - 407 - The Sword of Effort

"No, no. You have to be more direct. You’re giving your opponent the chance to predict what you’re going to do."

Reinard spoke as Hubert advanced toward him with a wooden sword in his hands.

The red-haired boy attacked with all the courage he had, aiming a frontal strike that, in his own head, seemed very devastating. To Reinard, however, it was far too easy to read. He simply tilted his body to the side and slipped out of the attack line without effort.

"See?" Reinard said. "When you announce your intention too much, even someone like me can dodge."

"Argh! Again!"

Hubert tried to turn his body to continue the attack, but before he could, Harris appeared behind Reinard, also holding a wooden sword.

"Got you!"

Reinard dodged without fully turning around and left his foot in the way.

"Ah!"

That was the last thing Harris said before tripping and falling face-first onto the ground.

Although he was truly not a very outstanding person overall, Reinard was still a very competent B-Rank Adventurer. In addition, he had trained the Water God Style and the Sword God Style up to Intermediate level, the equivalent of an experienced knight.

Against two four-year-old boys, even if they were the sons of Eris and Rygar, this was still more of an instructive game than a real fight.

While he continued "fighting" against the boys, Eris was nearby, talking with Hilda.

"He seems like a nice guy," Eris said, watching Reinard make Hubert miss another attack. "But don’t you think he’s too weak?"

Hilda smiled.

"And don’t you think Rygar is too strong?"

Eris looked at her, confused. Hilda laughed at her daughter’s expression.

"I am not the Sword God, Eris. I do not need a husband that strong. Actually, I met Reinard when I was working as a receptionist at the Guild."

Eris reflected for a few moments. In a way, it made sense.

From the conversation she had with Reinard, she still thought he was a little cowardly. But, as her mother said, Hilda was a relatively ordinary person. In fact, perhaps it would have been abnormal if he had not felt intimidated when meeting Eris.

After all, she was not only his wife’s daughter.

She was the Sword God.

Eris nodded, partially accepting the argument.

"Maybe you’re right..."

Then she turned toward the improvised arena where the boys were still trying to hit Reinard.

"Harris! Hubert! We’re leaving!"

The three interrupted the small fight.

The two boys ran toward Eris, their ears and tails swaying, still excited from the training.

Before leaving, Eris looked at Reinard and Hilda.

"I know you’re well established on the Central Continent, but I would consider moving to the Kingdom of Gaia. In the end, you are still my mother, and you could become targets."

Hilda and Reinard looked at each other.

Coming from Eris, this was almost a form of care.

Hilda was the first to answer:

"We will think about it."

Reinard nodded right after.

"Thank you for the advice."

Eris did not insist beyond that. She simply turned around and, together with her sons, began leaving the Combat Temple.

As they walked, Harris and Hubert were already arguing about which of them would have beaten Reinard if the fight had continued longer.

Eris listened to the conversation for a few seconds, and gave a slight smile.

---

Meanwhile, in the Magic City of Sharia, more specifically in the Greyrat mansion, unexpected and unusual visitors were being received.

The atmosphere after Rudeus’s death had inevitably grown heavier in that house.

Roxy and Sara gradually adapted.

Roxy was the first to get back on track. Although she was still hurt, she forced herself to remain stable, becoming the pillar of support for the rest of the family.

Sylphiette, on the other hand, even with all that time passing, still had not come to terms with it. Her mood had not been the same since that day.

At that moment, in one of the mansion’s rooms, sunlight entered through a large window, making the atmosphere quite comfortable.

Zenith was holding Christina Greyrat, her youngest granddaughter and Sara’s second child, who was three years old.

Chris laughed happily in her grandmother’s arms.

Zenith seemed even happier than she was.

One of her greatest regrets about living in Gaia was not being able to know her grandchildren. But who could have predicted everything that happened? Now, unexpectedly, she was there.

Chris, just like Sara and Zenith herself, had blond hair, but her eyes were green like Rudeus’s and Paul’s.

Zenith tickled the girl, who squirmed and laughed nonstop.

"Hihihihaha! Uwaaaa!"

After some effort, Chris finally managed to escape the tickle attack and ran a few steps across the room, still laughing.

Meanwhile, sitting on a nearby sofa, Roxy talked with Elinalise and Norn.

"Sylphy has still been very quiet since what happened," Roxy said. "But she seems to be improving lately, especially after Ruijerd visited us and spoke with her."

Elinalise nodded.

"She has mentioned that Superd to me a few times. It seems he was very important to her and to Rudeus."

Norn, sitting between the two, simply listened in silence for a few moments, watching her niece Lily sleep peacefully in Roxy’s lap.

Roxy sighed.

"She was always the most attached to Rudy. Since they were children in Buena Village, the two of them were already inseparable. Then came the Teleportation Incident... They went through many hardships, but they were always together."

Roxy looked out the window.

Outside, Sieghart was training with a wooden sword, performing serious and repetitive movements. Not far from him, Arthur slept awkwardly, leaning against a tree trunk.

"Whether in Begaritt, Gaia, the Demon Continent, or Sharia, Sylphy was always by his side. Sara and I had lives beyond the life we built with Rudy... Sylphy had nothing else."

Norn lowered her eyes slightly.

Then she asked:

"Sorry, but has Lady Sylphiette ever seen Aurora? I mean, she keeps saying she’s going to bring Rudeus back to life as a favor to Lara. That might be a little insensitive..."

Roxy smiled bitterly.

"Lord Orsted has already told us it is impossible to revive him at this point. Sylphy was the first to suggest it, and if even he cannot do it, we know it is not possible. Lately, Miss Aurora has stopped talking about it. I think someone stopped her."

Norn nodded.

Although one or two children of the Greyrat family believed Aurora, the rest of the people were far more rational.

Aurora was simply a child with superpower syndrome. Even if she was absurdly talented, that did not guarantee her the ability to do anything.

Rudeus was dead.

Elinalise, however, smiled slightly.

"Well, maybe it really is just an innocent game now. But who knows? Maybe in thirty or forty years... Recently, wasn’t there a man in Gaia who returned from the dead after being dead for about twenty years?"

Norn answered:

"Yes, Lord Eidar. Actually, that happened in more places around the world. At least a few dozen cases, each person who used one of the Resurrection Stones in time before the Labyrinth was destroyed."

Roxy looked doubtful, and a little sad.

"You are right. But even with that stone, it is not possible to revive Rudeus."

She looked at Lily sleeping in her lap.

"Still, it is as you said. No one expected those stones to appear a few years ago. Something crazy could happen."

Zenith, who until then had been playing with Christina, approached.

"Where are the other children, Roxy?"

"Lara and Lucie are attending the Academy now," Roxy answered.

Norn asked:

"Wasn’t Aurora around here too?"

Zenith answered before Roxy:

"Lilia told me Eris reprimanded her for going back and forth all the time. Now she can only come a limited number of times."

Although they had not properly met before, Roxy was being quite friendly with Zenith and Norn.

And there was no reason not to be.

After all, they were Rudeus’s mother and sister, people she had always wanted to know better. The only reason that had never happened was the distance created by circumstances.

Either way, Zenith was her children’s grandmother. If she wanted to know them and get along with them, Roxy would be happy to cooperate.

The women talked for a long time.

At some point, Norn left the room and went to the garden, where Sieghart continued training his swordsmanship with dedication.

She had heard that the boy was also super strong, just like Perseus and Diana, and decided to give him a few tips.

Although she was not exactly the best instructor and was only at Intermediate level, Norn had a solid foundation.

Sieghart was initially very shy and embarrassed, but she gradually managed to win him over, mainly by correcting small details and showing him how to train properly.

Meanwhile, Arthur continued sleeping uncomfortably nearby, completely indifferent to the training.

Norn quickly realized she had taken Sieg’s "super strength" too lightly.

She definitely could not block his attacks the way she usually would with a child, unless she wanted to break a few bones in the process. Even so, she quickly adapted.

After all, Sieghart still did not know much about swordsmanship.

If she could not defeat a five-year-old child without proper formal training, she might as well throw her sword in the trash.

Either way, Sieg learned quickly, and the two rapidly got along.

While they trained, a new visitor arrived, but neither of them noticed immediately.

Ruijerd watched Norn and Sieg training, somewhat interested.

He remained still for some time, following the training attentively. He observed Norn’s posture while also noticing Sieg’s rapid improvement.

It was only after some time that Arthur finally woke up.

The boy yawned lazily and rubbed his eyes. Still sleepy, he saw Ruijerd’s silhouette in the distance.

His face lit up.

"Ah! Uncle Ruijerd!"

Norn and Sieg were confused.

Norn suddenly turned around and finally saw the man who had been watching.

"Ah, hello?" she said, a little surprised. "Ah, excuse me. I am Norn, Rudeus Greyrat’s sister."

Sieg spoke hurriedly:

"Ah, Uncle Ruijerd, she really is..."

Ruijerd answered calmly:

"I am Ruijerd Superd. It is a pleasure to meet you, Norn."

He looked at the wooden sword in her hand.

"I must say, your swordsmanship is very interesting."

Arthur stretched, picked up a bow that was beside him, and walked off to continue his training on a nearby wooden dummy.

Meanwhile, Norn became quite confused.

She forced a somewhat hostile smile.

"Haha, sir... is that a joke?"

Norn was almost certain that strange man was mocking her. What was interesting about her swordsmanship?

She was merely an average swordswoman. Although she was gradually improving in advanced techniques, there was still a good distance to go.

And she was already twenty years old.

However, Ruijerd remained serious and impassive. His expression did not seem like that of someone joking.

In fact, to Norn, his face looked like a question mark, apparently trying to understand why she had reacted that way.

Sieg sensed the tension in the air.

"I-I am going to the bathroom!"

Then he ran back into the house.

Ruijerd finally spoke:

"That was not a joke."

Norn watched him with suspicion.

After a few seconds, realizing that he seemed to have a truly serious personality, she almost believed him.

Then she grew curious.

"I’m sorry. Thank you for the compliment, I suppose... But what is interesting about my swordsmanship? They are only common techniques, as far as I can tell."

Ruijerd approached a little closer, enough for Norn to see more clearly the white spear he carried and, of course, the other traits of a Superd.

"I am not referring to the technique specifically. It is fairly common among the styles of today. I am referring to your form, to the way you wield the sword. I do not know how long you have practiced, but if I had to define it in one word, I would say: effort."

Norn froze. She was mentally questioning what she had just heard, and did not answer anything for a few seconds.

Ruijerd furrowed his brows, brought his hand closer, and placed it on Norn’s forehead.

"Are you well?"

Norn’s face turned as red as a bell pepper.

She stepped away immediately, somewhat awkwardly.

"I-I’m fine! What kind of weirdo goes around touching strangers out of nowhere?!"

Norn quickly adjusted her clothes, turned her face away, and entered the house again.

"Hmph!"

Ruijerd became confused once more, but did not pay it much mind. He suddenly looked into the distance and saw Sara arriving on horseback, galloping toward the house.

Then he turned his gaze back to Arthur, who was now shooting arrows at the training dummy.

Finally, he walked into the mansion.

----

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