—Several Weeks Later—
Taking a break to spend time with my family, eventually Ciri, Ghislane, and I got back to it and began our trek to the world of G.A.T.E. Following Ciri’s path from Mushoku Tensei it took us thirteen jumps to reach our destination. Arriving at Alnus Hill, the three of us looked down at the devastation left behind by a recent battle. Glancing back at the Gate itself, it was still sealed which meant this was not the result of the JSDF.
“Great…so he has helped increase their firepower and turned them against one another.”, I sighed, surveying the lunar-like landscape, “Do you see now why I called him an asshole?”
“He was so nice to me though when I spoke to him.”, Ciri replied, looking at the rotting corpses left behind on the battlefield, “It is hard to believe a supposed, benevolent deity could help cause this amount of damage. Do you think he was here when the battle occurred to watch this senseless violence?”
“Knowing them, I would not be surprised if he kicked back with a bucket of popcorn to watch everything unfold.”, I admitted, walking down the hill, “I will gather some information from a corpse and see how bad things are here.”
Following after me, they began gagging as we drew closer to the corpses as their scent was vile. Using Wind Magic to block out the smell, I used Speak with Dead on one of the thousands of corpses around us. Sitting up in place, the corpsed looked at me ready to answer my questions.
“How many nations were involved in this battle?”, I inquired.
“Four.”, the corpse answered.
“Why are they fighting one another?”, I asked, wanting to see what angle Cedric was playing.
“After our deities were slain, the new deity told us that only one nation would receive his blessing while the rest would wither away.”, the corpse remarked, “No one willingly submitted to another so all nations are now fighting each other.”
‘Ah, he is using their survival instinct to incite this depravity.’, I thought, “Who was the victor here?”
“I do not know.”, the corpse responded.
“Where is the new deity you mentioned now?”, I questioned.
“I do not know, he wanders from place to place.”, the corpse told us.
Severing the spell, I let out a frustrated sigh and immediately sealed off the world so Cedric could not escape. Using a fire spell to incinerate all the corpses, to prevent an epidemic, I said a silent prayer and hoped that all of them found peace in their next life.
“So where do we go from here?”, Ghislane inquired, “Any cities nearby are probably empty so we will need to travel a bit to find people.”
“We will go to Italica, it is a major trading hub in this region.”, I said, looking toward the north, “It has solid walls so its people should have barricaded themselves inside and weathered the storm. Outside of that, the next closest shelter would be in the Imperial Capital but I doubt they would have let people in. The current Emperor is a piece of work…kind of like your biological father, Ciri.”
“Haha…”, Ciri laughed dryly, “He must be a really bad guy for you to compare him to my sperm donor father.”
“You do not get along with your father?”, Ghislane asked.
“I have only met him a few times, he did not give a shit about me or anyone else. He only cares about his military campaigns and his public appearance.”, Ciri spat, “I honestly dread having to go back to that world and deal with him.”
“Do not worry, we will be with you every step of the way.”, I assured her, patting her on the back, “Let us get moving, I want to get to Italica as soon as possible. If what happened in the proper timeline is happening now, they are likely under siege.”
—Italica, A Short Time Later—
Flying over the city, several miles up, we were able to confirm that my suspicions were indeed correct. The city was in lockdown as a host of seven thousand monsters and men had sieged Italica. Burning their fields to the ground, deserters and brigands were biding their time waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Judging by the facial expressions of the guards manning the walls, that time was not far off.
“It still makes me sick that people are capable of doing this to their fellow man.”, Ciri remarked, looking at the host with disgust.
“Unfortunately this sort of thing is all too common, as I am sure you are well aware of.”, I sighed, “Anyways, we will want to get in contact with the noble house that manages these lands…I believe it is House Formal. Hopefully the Count is still alive because if he is dead, his eleven year old daughter is calling the shots.”
“They will let an eleven year old run a city?”, Ghislane remarked, with a concerned look.
“The Count has three daughters, the two eldest were married off and no longer live in Italica. Technically one of them should take over temporarily till their youngest sister became an adult and inherited the title. Unfortunately, neither of them can do much now since they are surrounded and cut off from their aid.”, I told her.
“Hmm…are you going to call in your army for this?”, Ciri pressed me, with a smirk, “I heard from your wives that during a similar situation, with a religious order, you brought them in and wiped them out completely.”
Giving her a shrug, I did not think it was worth involving my troops at this point. What I did against the Church of the Three Heroes was a show of force that eradicating nonhuman races would not be tolerated. In this situation, the enemy was not singling them out because of race but because of the strategic value this city held. It was a major trading hub for the region which meant it held quite a lot of money, a juicy prize for those with nowhere left to go.
“We will speak to the person in charge first, and decide what to do from there.”, I told them, as I cloaked the three of us from prying eyes.
Touching down outside the Formal Mansion, I was surprised to see no guards whatsoever patrolling the property. While I understood that the troops were needed on the wall, leaving the Count/Countess undefended was risky. The maids certainly knew how to fight, but there was little they could do if the public decided to riot and offer their master up in exchange for their lives. Putting that aside for now, I removed our cover and approached the front door. Before I could knock, the Head Maid opened the door for us.
“Good Afternoon, how can I help you?”, Kaine asked, momentarily surprised to see three of us there.
Assuming the Rabbit Maid had told her our numbers, she was probably surprised that she had the number wrong.
“I apologize for dropping in unannounced, I was hoping to have an audience with your Master about the situation outside and about the new deity that caused it.”, I explained, keeping things polite.
Giving us a once over, Kaine was unsure if we were friend or foe. Believing that we were a genuine threat if we were enemies, she motioned to some of the other maids to join her.
“I do not mean to be rude, but even if you brought all the maids it still would not be enough. We are not here for any of you, my sole target is the deity that started all of this by killing your pre-existing gods.”, I told her, “As much as I hate to say it, I am the reason he ended up in your world. Cedric is running from me because I want to kill him for what he did to my family and people.”
“You are saying you know him?”, Kaine inquired, with a scowl.
“We are not allies nor have we ever been…”, I said, with a dark expression, “He helped kill my children and grandchildren, I am after his life.”
“I see…”, the head maid replied, feeling the anger and hatred in my eyes, “I do not mean to be rude, but I cannot allow you to see Lady Myui right now.”
“Ah…so her father is already dead then.”, I stated, “My condolences to her.”
Giving me a grateful nod, Kaine suggested that I come back later this afternoon to speak with her. Agreeing to her suggestion, I told her we would go survey the situation out at the wall.
“Are you offering your assistance?”, she inquired.
“I think it is the best way to show we are friends, not foes.”, I replied, “We will be back in a while.”
Turning around and leaving the property, Ghislane made Ciri a proposition because she wanted to spice up the upcoming fight.
“The person who kills the least amount of enemies pays for the victor’s drinks?”, Ghislane suggested.
“Cole cannot participate, right?”, Ciri clarified, giving me a smirk, “Neither of us has the funds to pay your tab, and I do not feel like doing dishes today.”
“Yeah, if he joins the wager I am out. This is one of those lose-lose situations.”, Ghislane teased me.
“Jeez, both of you are assholes.”, I laughed, cracking my neck, “Fine, have it your way. This bet is between the two of you.”
Running out ahead of me, the two of them were eager to begin this competition.
—Several Weeks Later—
Taking a break to spend time with my family, eventually Ciri, Ghislane, and I got back to it and began our trek to the world of G.A.T.E. Following Ciri’s path from Mushoku Tensei it took us thirteen jumps to reach our destination. Arriving at Alnus Hill, the three of us looked down at the devastation left behind by a recent battle. Glancing back at the Gate itself, it was still sealed which meant this was not the result of the JSDF.
“Great…so he has helped increase their firepower and turned them against one another.”, I sighed, surveying the lunar-like landscape, “Do you see now why I called him an asshole?”
“He was so nice to me though when I spoke to him.”, Ciri replied, looking at the rotting corpses left behind on the battlefield, “It is hard to believe a supposed, benevolent deity could help cause this amount of damage. Do you think he was here when the battle occurred to watch this senseless violence?”
“Knowing them, I would not be surprised if he kicked back with a bucket of popcorn to watch everything unfold.”, I admitted, walking down the hill, “I will gather some information from a corpse and see how bad things are here.”
Following after me, they began gagging as we drew closer to the corpses as their scent was vile. Using Wind Magic to block out the smell, I used Speak with Dead on one of the thousands of corpses around us. Sitting up in place, the corpsed looked at me ready to answer my questions.
“How many nations were involved in this battle?”, I inquired.
“Four.”, the corpse answered.
“Why are they fighting one another?”, I asked, wanting to see what angle Cedric was playing.
“After our deities were slain, the new deity told us that only one nation would receive his blessing while the rest would wither away.”, the corpse remarked, “No one willingly submitted to another so all nations are now fighting each other.”
‘Ah, he is using their survival instinct to incite this depravity.’, I thought, “Who was the victor here?”
“I do not know.”, the corpse responded.
“Where is the new deity you mentioned now?”, I questioned.
“I do not know, he wanders from place to place.”, the corpse told us.
Severing the spell, I let out a frustrated sigh and immediately sealed off the world so Cedric could not escape. Using a fire spell to incinerate all the corpses, to prevent an epidemic, I said a silent prayer and hoped that all of them found peace in their next life.
“So where do we go from here?”, Ghislane inquired, “Any cities nearby are probably empty so we will need to travel a bit to find people.”
“We will go to Italica, it is a major trading hub in this region.”, I said, looking toward the north, “It has solid walls so its people should have barricaded themselves inside and weathered the storm. Outside of that, the next closest shelter would be in the Imperial Capital but I doubt they would have let people in. The current Emperor is a piece of work…kind of like your biological father, Ciri.”
“Haha…”, Ciri laughed dryly, “He must be a really bad guy for you to compare him to my sperm donor father.”
“You do not get along with your father?”, Ghislane asked.
“I have only met him a few times, he did not give a shit about me or anyone else. He only cares about his military campaigns and his public appearance.”, Ciri spat, “I honestly dread having to go back to that world and deal with him.”
“Do not worry, we will be with you every step of the way.”, I assured her, patting her on the back, “Let us get moving, I want to get to Italica as soon as possible. If what happened in the proper timeline is happening now, they are likely under siege.”
—Italica, A Short Time Later—
Flying over the city, several miles up, we were able to confirm that my suspicions were indeed correct. The city was in lockdown as a host of seven thousand monsters and men had sieged Italica. Burning their fields to the ground, deserters and brigands were biding their time waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. Judging by the facial expressions of the guards manning the walls, that time was not far off.
“It still makes me sick that people are capable of doing this to their fellow man.”, Ciri remarked, looking at the host with disgust.
“Unfortunately this sort of thing is all too common, as I am sure you are well aware of.”, I sighed, “Anyways, we will want to get in contact with the noble house that manages these lands…I believe it is House Formal. Hopefully the Count is still alive because if he is dead, his eleven year old daughter is calling the shots.”
“They will let an eleven year old run a city?”, Ghislane remarked, with a concerned look.
“The Count has three daughters, the two eldest were married off and no longer live in Italica. Technically one of them should take over temporarily till their youngest sister became an adult and inherited the title. Unfortunately, neither of them can do much now since they are surrounded and cut off from their aid.”, I told her.
“Hmm…are you going to call in your army for this?”, Ciri pressed me, with a smirk, “I heard from your wives that during a similar situation, with a religious order, you brought them in and wiped them out completely.”
Giving her a shrug, I did not think it was worth involving my troops at this point. What I did against the Church of the Three Heroes was a show of force that eradicating nonhuman races would not be tolerated. In this situation, the enemy was not singling them out because of race but because of the strategic value this city held. It was a major trading hub for the region which meant it held quite a lot of money, a juicy prize for those with nowhere left to go.
“We will speak to the person in charge first, and decide what to do from there.”, I told them, as I cloaked the three of us from prying eyes.
Touching down outside the Formal Mansion, I was surprised to see no guards whatsoever patrolling the property. While I understood that the troops were needed on the wall, leaving the Count/Countess undefended was risky. The maids certainly knew how to fight, but there was little they could do if the public decided to riot and offer their master up in exchange for their lives. Putting that aside for now, I removed our cover and approached the front door. Before I could knock, the Head Maid opened the door for us.
“Good Afternoon, how can I help you?”, Kaine asked, momentarily surprised to see three of us there.
Assuming the Rabbit Maid had told her our numbers, she was probably surprised that she had the number wrong.
“I apologize for dropping in unannounced, I was hoping to have an audience with your Master about the situation outside and about the new deity that caused it.”, I explained, keeping things polite.
Giving us a once over, Kaine was unsure if we were friend or foe. Believing that we were a genuine threat if we were enemies, she motioned to some of the other maids to join her.
“I do not mean to be rude, but even if you brought all the maids it still would not be enough. We are not here for any of you, my sole target is the deity that started all of this by killing your pre-existing gods.”, I told her, “As much as I hate to say it, I am the reason he ended up in your world. Cedric is running from me because I want to kill him for what he did to my family and people.”
“You are saying you know him?”, Kaine inquired, with a scowl.
“We are not allies nor have we ever been…”, I said, with a dark expression, “He helped kill my children and grandchildren, I am after his life.”
“I see…”, the head maid replied, feeling the anger and hatred in my eyes, “I do not mean to be rude, but I cannot allow you to see Lady Myui right now.”
“Ah…so her father is already dead then.”, I stated, “My condolences to her.”
Giving me a grateful nod, Kaine suggested that I come back later this afternoon to speak with her. Agreeing to her suggestion, I told her we would go survey the situation out at the wall.
“Are you offering your assistance?”, she inquired.
“I think it is the best way to show we are friends, not foes.”, I replied, “We will be back in a while.”
Turning around and leaving the property, Ghislane made Ciri a proposition because she wanted to spice up the upcoming fight.
“The person who kills the least amount of enemies pays for the victor’s drinks?”, Ghislane suggested.
“Cole cannot participate, right?”, Ciri clarified, giving me a smirk, “Neither of us has the funds to pay your tab, and I do not feel like doing dishes today.”
“Yeah, if he joins the wager I am out. This is one of those lose-lose situations.”, Ghislane teased me.
“Jeez, both of you are assholes.”, I laughed, cracking my neck, “Fine, have it your way. This bet is between the two of you.”
Running out ahead of me, the two of them were eager to begin this competition.
