The person approaching was Roxy.
After responding to her hurried reminder, Allen's mind involuntarily recalled the original story's plot.
Without a doubt, her appearance here at this time, still carrying her suitcase, meant she had just parted ways with Rudy's family, leaving Buena Village behind to resume her adventure.
He had missed the moment.
But it seemed like he hadn't.
Or maybe he had.
If so, then the problem was clear.
The Transmigration Guide System's task for him was—to participate in the major events of Rudeus's growth stages in Mushoku Tensei and leave behind "traces" in the eyes of the main and supporting characters to earn participation points.
Was there a chance now?
According to Allen's plan, getting close to Roxy would surely net a lot of points—after all, Roxy was too important in the original story.
In Rudy's growth trajectory, the struggle against the gods and humans was the main storyline, and Roxy was the reason for the gods' appearance.
After the Great Shift, Roxy helped Rudy search for his family. During this process, they developed feelings for each other. And precisely because of their union came Lala, a key figure who would seal the gods and humans in the future. The Great Shift altered cause and effect; the gods, through their future sight, saw their own fate and thus intervened with Rudeus, allowing the main plot to unfold.
The opportunity was right in front of him, yet Allen hesitated.
Having read the book, his greatest trump card was his pseudo-future sight—second only to the system.
In other words, he shouldn't let his fondness for the original characters interfere too much with the plot. It was best to participate in each major event as a relatively strong background character.
If he influenced things too much and was discovered by the Dragon God roaming through reincarnations, there was a very high chance he wouldn't get to explain before being struck down on the spot. With the system's current growth, confronting the Dragon God was still a distant future.
His future sight was even more important to use—to avoid an early encounter.
Roxy watched Allen's gradually serious gaze, fidgeted nervously with her calves, and tugged the blue strands of hair in front of her forehead. She shifted her eyes to the bloodstained grass beside her and wanted to say something.
At that moment, clouds of dust suddenly appeared out of thin air, blocking Allen's view of Roxy.
He blinked in confusion.
"Huh? Why is the system showing up now? My sword skills shouldn't have improved suddenly enough to need an update."
Then, bold red underlined text formed in the air, and Allen's face instantly stiffened.
[Mushoku Tensei Transmigration Guide Immediate Task Released.]
[Initial Encounter with Roxy.]
[Task Background: The host has missed Roxy's teaching of Rudeus during her childhood. Now that Roxy has been separated from Rudeus for two days, encountering her is the host's last chance to make up for it.]
[Task Description: Within one hour, gain Roxy's favor. Within four days, gain Rudeus's favor.]
[Task Reward: Healing Magic Slot — Unlock (2/4).]
[Healing Magic Slot — Four magical rune slots are embedded on the host's Dragon Saint Fighting Qi core, corresponding to four types of healing magic: Healing Magic; Antidote Magic; Barrier Magic; Divine Strike Magic.]
[The host can obtain runes by physical contact with beings who have cast any of these four types of magic within the past minute. The system copies and solidifies the magic fluctuations into the slots as runes. When activated, these runes allow the host to cast the corresponding magic in real time until their mana is depleted. Note: Runes only affect the host's body, not external objects.]
[Task Start.]
[Roxy: Countdown 0:59:59. Completing this unlocks the Healing Magic slot.]
[Rudeus: Countdown 95:59:58. Completing this unlocks the Antidote Magic slot.]
No way, dude? Favor???
Huh?
System, are you serious? Favor from Roxy is one thing, but favor from Rudeus? What the heck is that?? And hiding 2/4 like you're saving something? You can't fool me! Just use your head — the other two slots have to be for the other heroines, right?
Seeing Allen's face twist in disbelief, Roxy couldn't help but try to say something to ease the awkwardness. She scratched her cheek shyly and spoke:
"Well... I was traveling at night and saw a firelight in the forest, so I came over. I just happened to see monsters attacking people and instinctively cast magic. Didn't expect you to handle them yourself — guess I was unnecessary and almost hit you by accident."
Her cute voice, awkward at dealing with people, snapped Allen out of his daze.
The system panel faded into the air, and Allen finally got a clear look at Roxy's appearance.
In the firelight, the "God" (a running joke—Roxy was called a god by Rudy) twisted her legs nervously. The black stockings on her calves had slipped slightly, revealing faint red marks on her pale skin. Her cheeks flushed pink, and her eyes darted around the environment.
But she wouldn't look up at Allen.
At this moment, the fighting qi rushing inside him calmed, and Allen felt a sudden warmth in his nose. Very quickly, blood started to flow. (Keep reading — it wasn't because of the legs.)
He blankly touched beneath his nose and glanced at Roxy's two sky-blue braids. Although he seemed to hesitate for a long time, it was actually just a brief moment.
Then, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted straight away.
Of course, it was a fake faint.
As for the nosebleed...
The "Twenty Slash" technique of the Hokushin style was a fast sword draw and slash relying entirely on physical ability and skill. In his current state, Allen wasn't yet fully developed and couldn't sustain five consecutive strikes in a short time. The qi rushing too fast caused his capillaries to rupture.
This was also why his Hokushin rank was low — he couldn't maintain continuous combat using practical techniques, and the more bizarre Kiba techniques were still largely beyond his grasp.
Not unwilling, just unable.
Some can do it, like the Northern King in the novel's Asura throne war, who covered himself with mirror-like armor, but Allen had no desire to look like a nightclub disco ball unless absolutely necessary.
Logically, a capillary rupture shouldn't have caused him to faint.
But the task was given, the countdown was ticking, and the opportunity was knocking.
No hesitation.
For gaining Roxy's favor quickly, fainting was the simplest and most effective method:
Using the Franklin Effect / social psychology.
The most direct way to win the favor of a stranger during first contact is not to offer help, but to seek help.
First, it gives the other person a sense of self-worth, making them feel valuable and important.
Second, during the act of helping, the helper's subconscious desire to justify their effort leads them to pay more attention and develop more favor toward the person they helped.
What this looks like is: "You asked me about our relationship? Well, since I helped them once, I guess we're pretty close~"
Right now was the perfect moment for the Franklin Effect to take hold. Allen's faint was a natural and reasonable way to "request help."
Adding to that, Roxy's water ball magic had almost accidentally hit Allen, so she already felt a little guilty.
It was obvious.
—Now! Right here! Right now! This was an unrefusable, limited-time request for help!
With a thud, Allen collapsed.
"Franklin Effect, do your thing! Blue Mama, help your child! (A Mushoku Tensei joke — readers, don't get the wrong idea.) You are the one true god of Mushoku, please bless Roxy to help your faithful disciple stand up!"
Allen closed his eyes and silently prayed for divine favor. Sure enough, soon he heard Roxy's anxious muttering and pacing nearby.
"Fainted? Did my water ball magic actually hit him? Wh-what do I do? Wh-what do I do??"
Allen thought: Healing magic, please!!
"Should we... run... run away?"
Allen: "Huh???"
"W-w-wait, Roxy, don't panic. Calm down, calm down."
A cold hand reached out and touched Allen's lips.
"Still breathing, no external injuries. Use healing magic — with my level, it should still be in time!"
Allen: "I'm holding on, thank you."
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but seeing Lochis's flustered, nearly panicked reaction reminded him of the scene in the novel where she used her water-element holy magic — the mighty cumulonimbus cloud — to call down lightning and accidentally stunned Rudy's family horse, showing a similar anxious expression.
This felt more real than both the anime and the novel. The usually stoic "Blue Mom" looked serious and proper, but the mundane Lochis had a totally adorable, charmingly awkward side.
Uh… though her impulse to abandon and flee was also quite believable.
Well, she was an adventurer after all.
Lochis's slightly hurried voice broke the silence.
"O benevolent goddess with the love of a mother! Please heal this person's wounds! Restore his healthy body! Healing magic!"
Allen had been waiting for this moment. As soon as the spell finished, he opened his eyes and sat up like a resurrected salted fish!
So fast!
He swiftly grabbed Lochis's hand. Caught off guard, her eyes widened in surprise, shyness, shock, and relief all at once. Allen looked seriously earnest and said with heartfelt sincerity:
Allen: "Thank you, God."
Lochis: "Σ(°ロ°)!!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the system panel appeared before his eyes.
[Successfully gained Lochis's favor, time taken: 2 minutes 47 seconds.]
[Evaluation: Quick guy, fierce, blonde aura.]
[Healing Magic Slot Unlocked.]
[Detected host currently in physical contact with Lochis; healing magic cast by Lochis within the past minute detected.]
[Retrieval successful, magic rune embedded — Intermediate Healing Spell.]
Allen blinked, a bit moved, staring intently at the blue-haired legal loli before him, who looked both horrified and flustered.
He couldn't quite tell if this sudden surge of favor was due to the Franklin effect or simply because he complimented her.
But one thing was absolutely clear:
This was a 'God.'
Generous, fair-skinned, beautiful, and adorable.
Lochis blushed lightly, withdrawing her hand from Allen's grasp. She brushed the stray hairs from her forehead and shifted her gaze away.
"God? That's just a normal intermediate healing spell. Calling me a god is way too much."
Still easy to coax.
Allen looked at Lochis sitting nearby in a duck-sitting posture. Her half-lidded eyes showed signs of sleep deprivation and a somewhat cold expression at the corners of her mouth, but mixed into her flustered demeanor was a hint of happiness at being praised as a god — an expression that totally contradicted her face.
That's adorable.
Tsk, Rudy, you come from an XP shaped by 34 years of butter-soaked experience in the neon-lit world of NEETdom.
He's not wrong.