Mushoku Tensei: Sword, Magic Hats, and the Romance System [117]

A long while passed.

Allen finally lifted his pen, eyes drifting toward the ink-blurred scrawl where Hilda’s name had been completely smudged into unreadability.

With a turn of the wrist, he wrote her name again—this time outside the circle.

Placed right beside Eris.

[Oh? How benevolent.]

The floating text flickered into view again. Allen’s eyes hovered on the names Hilda and Eris, scanning back and forth between them.

Stop with the sarcasm. I just think Eris will need her.

[Eris needs her? Now that’s a nice line. Very nice.]

[It’s true—Eris does need her.]

[But is that really your logical judgment talking? Or just… your ‘kindness’ showing, Allen?]

...

[Eris needs her. Eris also needs Philip. Eris also needs Sauros. So what now? You saving all of them?]

[Didn’t you just decide not to save Philip and Sauros because they saw their own son and daughter more as chess pieces than family? That their treatment of you—compared to the warmth of the Greyrats in Buena Village, compared to the family values you built in Paul’s home—felt totally wrong, painfully fractured?]

[But now you’re saving Hilda? Then why not save the rest while you’re at it?]

[What’s so hard about forgiving them, huh?]

[Just save them all! Go on! Rescue the entire Fittoa region while you’re at it! Scoop up Buena Village too! Save everybody!]

[Then after that, go to the capital and help Philip kill James. Hand him back the title of head of the family. Just another chore, right? Isn’t that what you do, young master of the Boreas family?]

The words scrawled across the system panel were mocking—soaked in malicious glee, like it found endless amusement in watching Allen wrestle with choices fate had shoved in his path.

It was genuinely enjoying itself.

[Who do you think you are? A heaven-sent saint? A top-tier savior of the Six-Faced World? Saving whoever you feel like saving?]

[Can you even save anyone at all?]

...

[Saving Hilda, just because she showed you a little kindness? Because she’s the only sane adult in the Boreas household? Alright then—after you rescue this mother, are you saving her husband too? Her father? The rest of the extended family?]

[You sure you don’t want to reconsider?]

[Really sure?]

[Can you—]

[Save yourself?]

Snap.

The pen in Allen’s hand split in two.

The system panel vanished in an instant.

Allen stared at the drifting smoke, fading into the air. He rubbed at his temple with an exhausted sigh.

What kind of half-assed system is this…? Damn thing’s like my old phone grew a soul. Useless.

One moment it’s dead serious like I’m on a client call back at the office, the next it’s having a Twitter meltdown. Bi-polar much?

Fiddling absentmindedly with the broken pen in his hand, Allen’s gaze slid between the names Hilda, Philip, Sauros.

Finally, he sighed again.

He understood what the system was really trying to say.

That last line—“Can you save yourself?”—was a veiled reminder of the price he’d chosen to pay.

Giving up the “Future Sight”… came with a cost.

Right now, everything’s a mess. Even if I detach my own feelings and think purely in Eris’s interest, then yeah—maybe I should save them all. But I haven’t even locked down a solid plan to rescue the people I do care about. Paul and Zenith’s fates aren’t even secured yet.

So how could I possibly believe I can save everyone?

Allen narrowed his eyes at the scribbles on the desk. He had already made the choice to destroy that “detestable future” for the sake of rescuing Paul and Zenith—but he also knew full well what that choice meant.

One consequence stood out above all—

If his actions caused enough ripples, if he stirred the timeline too much, and a certain dragon caught wind of a presence that wasn’t supposed to exist…

If Orsted saw him—a man who didn’t belong in any loop—and realized that the destinies of those who’d crossed paths with him were suddenly veering wildly off course—

What would happen?

Simple.

The next thing he’d hear would be:

“Have you heard of the Human God?”

Right in his face.

And that would be the end.

Would he even get a chance to explain?

Would it matter?

Would Nanahoshi be there beside Orsted this time?

Would she, in some stray flicker of sympathy, try to save him?

The price of giving up “Future Sight”…

Was his own life.

And even so.

Allen had still chosen to abandon it.

The memory of that moment in Snow Valley—when everyone ran toward him in the snow—was frozen in winter’s frame. But in his mind, it was vivid. As if it had happened just yesterday.

Some things…

To a person who had grown up without love…

Once recognized—once truly accepted—

Were more precious than life itself.

But the Boreas family…

Did they fall within that circle of acceptance?

Not right now.

Candlelight flickered.

Allen pulled out a fresh pen.

Next to Hilda’s name, he quietly drew a question mark.

He left Philip and Sauros untouched.

“.…Let’s wait and see.”

“…Three years and three months. That’s enough time to figure it out.”

A long breath escaped his lips.

Allen spread both arms across the desk and slumped forward.

He was exhausted.

And yet sleep still refused to come.

His eyes drifted over the desk’s curving wood grain.

Within his vision—

Pale moonlight streamed between the four hundred and eighty-one lines etched into the surface.

Allen watched.

The pen in his hand moved on its own, idly gliding across the paper.

System.

[I’m here.]

Smoke swirled once more, promptly summoned. Its tone was calm—so detached and even, you’d think the earlier meltdown had never happened.

Allen didn’t speak aloud. He just whispered a name in his mind.

And in the next instant, smoky tendrils rose and unfolded over the desk, forming a massive world map. It zoomed in, narrowing down until a familiar birds-eye view of the Shirone Kingdom palace filled his vision.

[Engage ‘Gaze’? Duration: 10 seconds.]

Yes.

His vision tunneled—slicing through the crowd.

Locking in on a familiar desk.

There, a waterfall of soft blue fell across wood grain—streams of color flowing between the veins of the surface.

It wasn’t a river.

It was Roxy’s hair.

That silky, cerulean hair poured down like water, pooling over the desk. Its hues melted into the matching blue of her eyes.

Between those flowing strands—

Were the eyes he remembered so well.

Allen looked into Roxy’s gaze.

At this very moment, separated by the vastness of the Asura Continent, they both leaned across their desks in perfect symmetry.

Mirror-like.

Face-to-face.

Roxy blinked, her expression faintly troubled.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sat up.

Beneath her face—was a letter.

The ‘Gaze’ spell couldn’t transmit sound.

But Allen could still hear the soft scratching of her pen against paper.

Just like before—two years ago—when she’d lain beside him, scribbling in that bestiary while he quietly watched, propped up on one hand.

So focused. A little dazed.

Ten seconds wasn’t long.

But it was enough.

Enough for Allen to drift into sleep.

And by his hand—

The pen he’d been absentmindedly dragging across the page…

Had written one name.

Roxy.

---

This is a fan translation of 无职转生：剑，魔法帽与恋爱系统 by 意外火灾 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!