Mushoku Tensei: Sword, Magic Hats, and Romance!

Rudeus blinked in surprise.

"Huh?"

Sylphiette also looked puzzled.

Then, as if something clicked, Rudeus turned to glance at her.

"Magic, huh? Well, that's not a bad idea. That way, even if we're not around, Sylph could fight back when people bully her."

"I—"

Allen nodded along.

"Exactly. Which is why you should be the one to teach her. I don't know any magic."

"Um..."

"Ah, what a pain... but since it's your request, Allen, I'll grudgingly agree."

"...If I hadn't said anything, were you just not planning to teach her?"

"Wait, why would I teach her magic? Shouldn't you be the one doing it?"

Sylphiette tried to cut in twice, but both times got steamrolled by the other two. She looked left at Allen, then right at Rudeus, realizing that neither had any intention of listening to her, and started to panic.

"I—I want to learn swordsmanship!"

By now, they had reached the large tree atop the hill.

The breeze was soft and warm.

It carried away the tail end of Rudeus's words—"It makes more sense if you teach her swordsmanship"—before they could land.

He blinked, then slowly broke into a teasing smile. Turning to look at Allen, who was frozen in disbelief, Rudeus gave a mischievous grin.

Heh. Looks like your little sweetheart doesn't want to learn magic from me, Allen-sama. She wants to learn swordsmanship from you. Well? What are you waiting for? This is the perfect chance to "train" her! Go on, say yes!

Allen opened and closed his mouth like a stunned goldfish, utterly baffled.

Huh? This butterfly effect is getting out of hand. You, a [Laplace Factor] carrier, want to study swordsmanship? Are you messing with me?

"Why?"

Sylphiette blinked.

Then, with great seriousness, she turned and mimed a slashing motion toward Rudeus. Her little hand-chop swept the air with a dramatic whoosh, her pointed ears twitching as she made the sound effect herself.

Rudeus stood there, unharmed. His mouth twitched.

Allen nearly tripped where he stood.

"Hold on! Don't tell me… you think that whole 'battle aura slash' thing is cool?"

Sylphiette and Rudeus gave him the exact same wide-eyed look of genuine surprise.

"Incredible, right?"

In perfect unison.

Allen's expression crumpled.

Okay wait—this is a huge deviation. In the original, Rudeus appreciated swordsmanship, sure, but he didn't idolize it like this. And Sylph?! She's out here requesting flashy battle aura chops?! You're a healer! A no-chant healing spell prodigy! You're built for support—not melee brawls! Since when does the cleric grab a sword and charge into battle?!

Sylphiette, seeing Allen's face grow more and more serious, shrank back a little, a worried look forming on her face.

Rudeus, meanwhile, had adopted a totally uninvolved posture, wandering over to admire the chaotic carving Allen had made on the tree yesterday. The occasional twitch of his ears betrayed his amusement.

Sylphiette looked nervously at Allen, who still hadn't said a word.

Uh-oh. Did I say something wrong? Does Allen… not want me to learn swordsmanship?

"U-Um…"

"If… If Allen doesn't want me to, then I can learn magic from Rudy instead. I-It's fine, really. I can… I can help you dry your hair with magic or something..."

A breeze swept through, tousling both Allen and Rudeus's hair.

They both stared at her, stunned.

"…Huh?"

...

"So that's how it is. Sylphiette's never actually seen real offensive magic, huh."

After some clumsy back-and-forth, Allen came to a surprising conclusion—Sylphiette had never seen a proper attack spell in her life. Her father, Laws, was skilled with a bow, but totally clueless when it came to magic. Her mother, a classic stay-at-home type, was great at sewing, cooking, and boiling water—but also couldn't use magic.

So for Sylphiette, "magic" was something like warming water and blowing air to dry someone's hair.

In contrast, "battle aura" that could literally smack people with flying dirt clumps seemed way more aggressive and impressive.

Which made perfect sense for a child barely five years old: whatever looked stronger or cooler was automatically better.

Right… Laws's mother, Elinalise, was a swordswoman too, so he grew up in that environment. It's not strange that he never learned magic. As for Sylph, well—being raised in this tiny backwater village, of course she's never seen real magic.

Allen watched as Rudeus chased Sylphiette in circles around the tree, casting [Heat Hands] + [Wind Gust] and yelling, "Hurry up and master this so you can dry your beloved Allen-sama's hair!"

Allen sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Dry your beloved Allen-sama's hair"—what kind of nonsense is that...

"Rudy!"

Rudeus looked back mid-chase.

"Yeah?"

"Quit fooling around. If she's never seen proper offensive magic, show her what it looks like."

Rudeus pouted.

"What's wrong with swordsmanship?"

Allen glanced at Sylphiette, who was watching him with wide, uncertain eyes.

He sighed softly.

"I've been watching her. Her body isn't suited for swordsmanship. Sword arts rely heavily on innate talent. Don't be fooled by how casual Master Paul acts—he may look like he just messes around, but he's actually a swordsmanship prodigy."

Rudeus blinked.

"I didn't know that."

Allen stared at him, the smile fading from his face.

Because it suddenly hit him—Rudeus had already reached Saint-tier in magic.

"...Rudy, according to Roxy, your talent in magic is terrifying. You can chantlessly cast spells, and you've already reached Water Saint level. And the only reason you haven't gone higher is because that's Roxy's personal limit—not yours."

Rudeus listened as Allen repeated Roxy's praise. His face lit up with a proud smile—

—until Allen's next words wiped it away completely.

"So I'm really curious. Just how strong are you right now? If we put enough distance between us… who do you think would win in a fight—you, or me?"

Rudeus stared at Allen's serious expression, startled.

"What are you saying? You're my swordsmanship teacher, of course you'd—"

Allen cut him off, face blank.

"I mean, me with a sword. You with magic. Who's stronger?"

Rudeus faltered.

"You… probably, since you spar with Father..."

"You really think that?"

Mouth open, Rudeus looked at him, unable to reply.

It wasn't in his nature to be aggressive or combative. The unexpected turn of conversation left him totally at a loss. Even though he held the official title of Water Saint-level Magician, he still didn't fully grasp what that meant. He wasn't the fighting type—and even as a future adventurer, he'd always planned to avoid conflict whenever possible.

"Th-That's just common sense, right…?"

"Attack me with everything you've got. Show Sylphiette what offensive magic really looks like."

Rudeus froze, not even realizing Allen had just called her Sylphiette instead of Sylph.

"Wh-What kind of joke is—"

Before he could finish, Rudeus felt a rush of air graze the side of his face. A cold gleam flashed at his neck.

A blade.

Sharp, mirror-like under the morning sun.

He saw his own pale reflection in the steel—though the flat of the blade faced his throat, he could feel the chill of danger radiating from it.

Swallowing hard, he followed the blade with his eyes.

Allen—who'd been several meters away just moments ago—was suddenly right in front of him.

Leaning close, eyes narrowed, he stared straight into Rudeus's stunned gaze.

"I said—treat me as your enemy, and show me what real attack magic looks like."

Rudeus froze.

Allen was completely serious.