Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race Chapter 410 - 409 - The Human God’s Offer

Since they had already made a decision, Aaron decided to leave for the capital as soon as possible.

Laura then tried to convince him to take her along, which was not an easy task.

Their child would be born soon, and although the capital was not so far away as to make the journey impossible, a trip to the main city of the Duchy of Basherant was not something that could be treated like a simple walk.

Aaron could return in half a month, perhaps even a little earlier if he found help quickly, but it was still an uncertainty.

He initially refused, but Laura insisted.

Aaron refused again, saying the road could be tiring and that she needed to rest.

But Laura answered that she did not want to stay home waiting, imagining alone what might be happening.

In the end, Aaron gave in.

And so, both of them set off toward the capital.

During the journey, the two fantasized and imagined what would happen if that absurd story could truly be real.

Sometimes they laughed at the idea itself, since treating it as a joke was a way to distance themselves from the result. At other times, they remained silent for long stretches of the road, each with their own thoughts.

It felt unreal.

Their perspective, as people who had lived almost their entire lives as slaves, was far too limited. They could not even clearly imagine what life after that would be like.

Aaron did not know.

But if there was even the smallest chance that he had someone so important connected to him from before slavery, he needed to try.

Especially for the child who had not yet been born.

Aaron and Laura arrived at the duchy’s capital about five days later. The journey was peaceful, since the routes were protected by the Duchy’s Knight Order, but even so, it had been exhausting.

The capital was not as large as Asura, but it still intimidated Aaron.

The wide streets, the stone houses, the guards on the corners, the merchants shouting prices, and the people speaking all at once made old habits return to his body.

Without realizing it, he lowered his head slightly and began walking closer to the walls, trying to take up less space.

Laura noticed and held his hand.

"We are not slaves anymore, dear..." she murmured.

They were not finely dressed, but they would probably be mistaken for farmers or ordinary citizens. No one was looking at them differently.

Even so, Aaron was still tense.

"Thank you, dear. I know."

He raised his head and forced himself to walk normally through the streets.

It was easy to do that in an underdeveloped and unknown village. There, he was simply Aaron, the lumberjack. In the capital, the environment was different.

Finding the men of the Iron Legion was not difficult.

In many cities of the Central Continent, especially after the recent changes, there were contact posts, messengers, or representatives connected to the Kingdom of Gaia.

Even where they had no formal authority, everyone knew who they were. Aaron had heard that the same thing happened on other continents, but he had no way of confirming any of it.

The two walked for some time, asking for information and even buying meat skewers from a street vendor, more because of Laura’s insistence than hunger.

Finally, they arrived at a simple but well-guarded building near the administrative area of the city.

There was a flag of Gaia at the entrance.

Two warriors stood by the door, wearing the standard black armor of the Iron Legion and bearing the intimidating symbol of the Beast God, the most powerful creature in the world.

Aaron stopped before them and, for a few seconds, could not speak.

One of the guards, a yellow bird demon holding a spear, looked at him, then at Laura, and immediately noticed the couple’s nervousness.

"Do you need help?"

The question was simple. The guard seemed helpful and even friendly, although his pronunciation of the Human Tongue was not very good.

Aaron was not used to receiving that kind of treatment from someone armed in front of an official entrance.

"I... I need to send a message to someone."

"A message? To whom?"

Aaron hesitated.

If he said that name, perhaps the guards would laugh at him, or throw him out. Perhaps they would think he was a madman trying to attract attention.

Laura squeezed his hand.

Aaron took a deep breath.

"To Rygar Adoldia."

The two guards looked confused, but they did not laugh.

One of them became more serious.

"I see... and what would the subject of this message be?"

Aaron looked around, considering whether someone would appear to arrest him for his audacity. When that did not happen, he spoke:

"A God appeared in my dreams. He told me I should seek out the Iron Legion and speak with Rygar Adoldia."

Both guards instantly fell silent.

One of them pulled out a strange device and seemed to confirm some information. The guard who had spoken first placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but did not draw it.

"What God?"

"He called himself Hitogami."

This time, the reaction was different.

The second guard entered the building almost running, while the first remained outside, staring at Aaron and Laura with much greater attention.

"You two are temporarily detained. I ask that you accompany me inside," he said. "Do not make any sudden movements."

Aaron turned pale.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"That is not for me to decide."

Laura moved a little closer to him, instinctively protecting her belly.

"We do not want to cause trouble. We only came because..."

"I understand perfectly, ma’am," the guard answered, without rudeness. "But we have explicit orders. Any mention of the Human God is a matter of the highest priority."

Human God.

Aaron had already heard that name in recent rumors. Messengers from Gaia had spread warnings through several regions, instructing authorities and local leaders to report anyone who claimed to be an apostle of the Human God.

He had often wondered whether that god could be the same one who had appeared in his dreams, but only now had he obtained direct confirmation.

Soon after, they were taken to an inner room.

There, an officer of the Iron Legion interrogated them politely. He asked Aaron’s name, origin, approximate age, profession, birthplace, former owners, exactly what Hitogami had said, and how many times the dream had repeated.

Aaron answered everything he could.

He did not know his exact age, nor the name he had received at birth. Much less who his parents were.

He only knew that he had been sold as a child, that he had grown up as a slave in Asura, that he had escaped after the massacre of the nobility, and that now he lived as a lumberjack in the north.

When he mentioned what Hitogami had said, the officer became even more attentive.

"Repeat that part."

Aaron answered:

"He said my mother was named Selene Adoldia. He said I was taken from her at birth, and that my younger brother is Rygar Adoldia, the Beast God. And he said that, if I wanted to give my child a better chance, I should seek him out and deliver a message."

Laura pressed her lips together.

The officer wrote down a few notes. Then he stared at Aaron for long seconds.

"Do you understand that you may be being used?"

Aaron lowered his eyes.

"No, sir. I mean... I understand that it might be a lie. But I do not know why a God would lie to someone like me."

The officer did not answer.

In the end, they were not imprisoned, but they were not released either.

They were treated with a mixture of caution and respect. Theoretically, it was far better than their everyday life.

They were given good food, water, a rather comfortable room, and the clear instruction that they were not to leave the post until new orders arrived.

Laura was worried, but Aaron realized that this was not exactly a prison.

A few hours later, the answer came.

With communication devices integrated into all the major capitals, the information reached the upper ranks of the Kingdom of Gaia very quickly, and the order was surprising to them.

They would be taken to Gaia immediately. Aaron almost dropped the cup he was holding when he heard it.

"The Kingdom of Gaia? Wait... now?"

"As soon as the escort is ready," the officer answered. "Your wife will go with you, of course. Considering the pregnancy, we will have capable healers prepared along the route, although, judging by the timing, I believe it will not be necessary."

Laura widened her eyes, and Aaron did not know what to say. That very night, they were led through a route of teleportation circles.

Aaron and Laura had never used anything like that. It was simply unreal to cross continents by stepping onto a magic circle.

After the first crossing, a demon woman with white hair and dark gray skin accompanied them for the rest of the way.

She spoke to them kindly, explaining the basics of the transfer and frequently asking how Laura felt. But from the respect with which everyone else treated her, both of them deduced that she had to be very important.

She introduced herself as Catarina.

Even so, everyone referred to her as General Vesper.

Perhaps it was a war name. Either way, Catarina assured them that she was a very capable healer.

After passing through several corridors and institutions, often being blindfolded to preserve the secrecy of those strategic positions, Catarina finally spoke after the third teleportation:

"We are in the Great Forest. Welcome to the Kingdom of Gaia."

Neither of them answered immediately, because the nausea hit them right afterward.

Teleportation was always like that. This effect was common for everyone, and even after going through it three times, Laura and Aaron still had not gotten used to it. Hence the need for a healer to accompany a pregnant woman, just in case.

When they finally opened their eyes and looked around carefully, simply taking a deep breath already felt different.

The air seemed purer and cleaner.

Besides, going from the cold climate of the northern Central Continent to the tropical climate of the Gaia Continent was a truly different experience.

The enormous trees around them, ten or twenty times larger than the trees of the duchy, shocked Aaron deeply. He suddenly found himself thinking that he could never make a living in that place as a lumberjack.

Cutting down a tree there would take far too long.

Laura elbowed him, pulling him out of that random thought.

Aaron smiled awkwardly.

She clearly knew him like no one else. She knew exactly what he was thinking, and she also knew it was a stupid thought for that moment.

They had barely walked a few meters when they saw a huge silhouette leaping between the trees. They did not even have a chance to react.

An enormous Ebony Wolf landed before them, making the ground tremble beneath its paws. All the guards around them bowed immediately.

Catarina even knelt.

Jumping down from the wolf, a tall beastman with hair that was half reddish and half brown advanced toward them.

Aaron and Laura were deeply intimidated by the enormous wolf and by the reaction of the soldiers around them. They did not know what to do, and were already beginning to kneel when the man’s voice cut through the movement:

"No formalities. Enough, enough. You too, Vesper."

The knight stood up.

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Commander Taes."

Taes dismissed the formality.

"We can talk more later."

Then he looked at the couple.

He seemed to be trying to identify something. He observed Aaron from several angles, approached a little, and even sniffed the air.

No one said anything.

Aaron did not know whether he should feel frightened, offended, or simply confused.

Finally, Taes laughed.

"Well, if we go by appearance alone, you really are similar to Lady Selene! Hahaha! Your name is Aaron, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"I am sure Rygar will be able to confirm whether you are his brother, but welcome to the Kingdom of Gaia either way."

Taes turned around and signaled for them to follow. Aaron and Laura obeyed, still trying to process the situation.

As they walked, Taes spoke again:

"Just to confirm... Hitogami told you to deliver a message to Rygar, correct?"

Aaron answered, still nervous:

"Ah, yes, he did... he mentioned that he would like to negotiate with the Beast God."

----

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