Mushoku Tensei: Sword, Magic Hats, and Romance!

In the end, Zenith was Allen's true savior.

The moment she heard the commotion outside, she burst out of the kitchen like a whirlwind and rescued Allen from the depths of disaster.

"I'll vouch for Allen—he definitely won't scare Somar again. I'm terribly sorry for the trouble."

Paul bowed his head repeatedly, apologizing profusely to Mrs. Eto, while Zenith stood beside him, face cold and silent. Toward this woman who constantly hovered around her husband, Zenith—usually kind and gentle—had little patience.

Mrs. Eto's cheeks were tinged pink as she stared at the floor. And under Allen's stunned gaze, she put on a gracious expression, the kind that said "Well, since you've apologized, I suppose I'll forgive you", then started murmuring sweetly to Paul.

Auntie! You were ready to throttle me a second ago! What's with this sudden wholesome act?!

After seeing Mrs. Eto off—with three backward glances, no less—Paul finally turned to Allen with a stern face, hands on hips.

"Allen. What's going on here?"

The classic parental posture.

After all, in Paul's eyes, Allen was not just his friend's son but also his nephew. No matter how much fun they had sparring, when it came to disciplining a child, the adult role kicked in instinctively.

Just as Allen opened his mouth to explain, Zenith gave a sharp hmph, stomped off, and headed straight back to the kitchen.

Paul looked after her, confused—she'd been all smiles just last night.

Allen covered his face, then leaned over and whispered in Paul's ear.

"Uncle—uh, Master, you might be a little dense, but I think Mrs. Eto… has a thing for you."

Paul blinked. Then his eyes lit up.

"Really?"

Allen: ...

Rudeus: ...

Watching Paul's face light up, Rudeus covered his own in secondhand embarrassment.

That stern expression from earlier? Gone without a trace. Paul-sensei, you really are as easy to read as ever.

Allen pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Yesterday I saw Somar throwing mud at Uncle Law's daughter by the rice field, so I scolded them a bit. But I swear—I didn't, uh, lay a finger on him."

Paul frowned.

"Wait, what? Mrs. Eto always brags about what a well-behaved boy her son is. She's always coming over to talk about him. Hold on—does that mean—?"

"Yep. She's just using it as an excuse to chat with you, Master. The madam's probably known that for a while, which is why she's upset."

Paul swallowed hard and darted a nervous glance toward Lilia, who'd been silently standing nearby. Then, with panic setting in, he bolted for the kitchen.

"Zenith! Let me explain! I really didn't know—!"

Rudeus turned to Allen, who was now eyeing Lilia thoughtfully.

Leaning close, he whispered:

"Mrs. Eto's probably not far—go after her. I'll just tell them you left to look for Sylph—ow!"

Allen flicked Rudeus on the forehead with a glare.

"Go play cute in the kitchen and save your old man. Or do you want to skip breakfast? I smell something burning."

Rudeus blinked, then dashed off to the kitchen without another word.

Allen turned to look at Lilia. She shot him a quick glance, adjusted her glasses, and muttered:

"I'll help in the kitchen too."

She fled to the kitchen like she'd been caught doing something shameful.

Allen leaned on his chin, lost in thought.

So Paul's cheating… huh. In the original story, Lilia only got involved after Zenith got pregnant—Paul, having too much pent-up energy, made a move. But now… judging from last night, they've already... No, maybe Paul's just been flirting occasionally and Lilia hasn't exactly rejected it. Still, at this point, it's already in motion.

A "household melodrama," huh? When is that episode going to air? If I interfere now, maybe Aisha won't even be born... But it was Paul who sneaked into her room, not the other way around. So what's the point of trying to stop him?

Allen gave a wry smile.

This household is getting more and more interesting. Aisha, Norn… how much longer until they're born?

...

Breakfast was delayed by a full hour.

Why? Because Paul spent that entire time in the kitchen, trying to calm down his wife.

Fortunately, when it came to sweet-talking, Paul had always been talented. It wasn't long before Zenith forgave him.

By the time they finally sat down to eat, Paul was in great spirits and even smiled as he told Allen and Rudeus that if they wanted, they could invite Sylphiette over to visit.

Maybe he was being extra lenient since the kids had just made a new friend. He went so far as to cancel the day's sword training and encouraged them to go out and play.

When it came time to see them off, Paul kept clutching Zenith's hand while saying goodbye. Zenith tried to discreetly pull away—especially under Lilia's watchful eye—but Paul held firm.

Guess having no kids around really does help with marital bonding.

"By the way, we never said goodbye to Sylph yesterday, or even asked where she lives. How are we supposed to find her?"

Allen pulled his gaze back from the couple, shrugged.

"That hill from yesterday. I bet she'll be there."

"Really?"

"Just a hunch. Not like we've got anything else to do—worth checking."

Allen didn't bother explaining further—he was busy arguing with the system.

[Real-Time Mission: "The Temptation of the Cart" – Failed.]

[Evaluation: A shame. Still, 2 points is 2 points.]

"A shame" your ass! What the hell even is this mission?! Do you even know what "driving the cart" means? Stop using that term wrong! Just because she's older and shorter doesn't mean—wait, never mind!

[Ah, so it was a height issue. My bad. I'll get it right next time.]

Damn it.

...

Sure enough, when the two of them returned to the hill, they spotted a small figure standing beneath a tree.

She wasn't playing—just looking around anxiously.

When she finally caught sight of them approaching, she bounced on the spot a few times, then flailed her limbs like she'd forgotten how to move, finally settling into a wobbly run toward them.

Allen couldn't help but smile. Even his steps felt lighter as he waved and called out:

"Morning! Were you waiting here just for us?"

Sylphiette almost tripped, visibly panicked.

"N-No! I wasn't—I…"

"You see! I told you Sylph wouldn't come here just to wait for us," Rudeus muttered grumpily. "You were the one insisting she'd be here. Clearly a coincidence."

"Sure, sure. You're right."

By now, Sylph had reached them. Hearing Allen's teasing, her expression changed. She grabbed Rudeus's head and, despite his flailing arms, yanked him behind her like a protective wall.

They were both tiny—it wasn't like she could actually hide him behind her back.

"N-No! Allen! It's not what you think! I just—"

Allen looked at Rudeus, who was practically suffocating, then chuckled and gave Sylphiette a gentle pat on the head.

"Sorry about yesterday. I was careless and got you guys poisoned. You feeling alright today?"

Sylph's ears twitched. Her reddish-brown eyes gleamed under the sunlight. She slowly lowered her hand from Rudeus's forehead.

"I'm fine."

"Haaah!"

Rudeus finally broke free, gasping like he'd just come up for air. He glared at both of them.

"Hey! I was the one who felt sick!"

Allen stroked his chin, looking between the two of them.

Sylph's got the [Laplace Factor] too. This is a bit earlier than in the novel. If we start her mana training now, she might have a better shot at landing safely after the big teleportation incident...

"Hey, Rudy—why don't you teach her magic?"