The bedroom was silent.
The invisible dust was still floating.
[Lord Host, Mr. Alan, I already reminded you once last night. It seems you didn't realize it.]
[So I'll remind you again tonight. If this goes on…]
[You can forget about reaching the Saint-rank in the Sword God Style. You can stay at the advanced rank for the rest of your life.]
[To follow your heart, where thought and action become one. Yes, I admit, although you haven't intentionally cultivated your desire, this 'sword heart' that has actively crashed into your face is quite good.]
[Unlike the crude desires for material possessions and women, which will inevitably become tiresome one day, all you need to do now is to see your true heart, do what you want to do, and respond to the expectations you should respond to. If you do that, you will continue to advance rapidly in the Sword God Style, and you will never have to worry about your 'desire being extinguished.']
[Sword Saint, Sword King, Sword Emperor, Sword God.]
[They are all just goals that you can reach out and grab once your theory and foundation are in place…]
[But as it stands.]
[It seems you have a bit of a problem, don't you…]
Only silence remained in the bedroom.
After a long moment, the dust, as if bored, began to dissipate.
But just as the last wisp of dust was about to disappear, the words reformed.
[Then…]
[Let 'me' help you. ;)]
Alan froze, then shot his head up, staring intently at the system panel.
As expected.
A new quest.
Was issued.
[Tutor Period — Compound Quest — Have Your Cake and Eat It Too. Issued.]
[Quest Part One — Respond to Hilda's Expectation. Quest Reward: Participation Score: 10 points.]
[Quest Part Two — Respond to Sylphie's Expectation. Quest Reward: Participation Score: 10 points.]
[Quest Part Three — Respond to Ghislaine's Expectation. Quest Reward: Participation Score: 10 points.]
[Being watched by Hilda, a sense of disconnect between the kinship of your physical bloodline and the reality of your soul's transmigration; being admired by Sylphie, a sense of confusion from realizing your true feelings but hesitating to act out of concern for their dignity, a regressing Silent Sword; being held in high esteem by Ghislaine, yet feeling helpless at your inability to advance further in the Sword God Style.]
[How will you solve these difficult problems? Family, love, and strength. Can you have your cake and eat it too?]
[The answer is…]
[Yes!]
[The fruit of 'having your cake and eating it too' has already been planted by your own hand, but you seem to be completely unaware.]
[All that awaits you is to make the choice to take that final step.]
[Quest Time: No time limit within the tutor period, but once one part of the quest is completed, the subsequent two parts must be completed within 24 hours of each other, otherwise the quest is considered a failure.]
[Note, this is a gimme quest.]
[Quest.]
[Begin!]
The dust floated before his eyes.
Alan was completely numb.
He stared blankly at the system panel, his lips opening and closing, wanting to speak but unable to, over and over again. He couldn't get a single word out.
[Oh? Why that expression? Did you think I would give you a mandatory quest? Or create some conflicting options within the quest?]
[As I said, this is your journey through Mushoku Tensei. You are a participant, so the choice should naturally be in your own hands.]
[Please continue to work hard and leave your mark upon the main and supporting characters.]
[Good luck, Alan ;)]
Alan blinked, staring blankly for a long time before he came back to his senses. His expression was a sight to behold, like someone walking their dog who finds the leash has gone slack, only to turn around and see their male dog being mounted by a stray.
'It's true… my first thought was that you were going to issue a mandatory quest. Now it seems like you're actually a pretty nice guy…'
'Nice guy my ass!'
'Why are your quests getting more and more abstract! I feel like I have a reading disability!'
'What the hell is 'have your cake and eat it too'? What the hell is 'the fruit of having your cake and eating it too has already been planted by my own hand'? And what the hell is 'I only need to take the final step'?'
'What is any of this?!'
'Respond to expectations? How am I supposed to respond? Where are the quest hints?'
'And—'
'What's this about Ghislaine's high esteem? What high esteem does she have for me? How come I don't fucking know about it??'
'Are you just making up a quest to mess with me? And responding to one person's expectation every 24 hours, a mother, a lover, and a teacher. Is that even logical? Is there any connection between them? What am I supposed to respond with? Why don't I just go fly to the moon? And you call this a gimme quest? It's more like a suicide mission!'
Alan was furious.
But the dust just floated in front of his face, as if watching him.
[I was originally trying to give you some motivation, but I didn't expect it to be so effective so quickly. You seem much more energetic now than you did a moment ago.]
'?'
'I'm having a fucking mental breakdown, of course I'm more energetic!'
[Good, keep it up.]
'??'
The dust dissipated.
Alan's face was left with a look of pure bewilderment.
He was stunned for a long time before he finally snapped out of it and rubbed his face vigorously.
He reached for the letter on the desk, intending to draw a mind map to sort out his thoughts, but his pen hovered over the paper for a long time without moving.
Outside the window, a bird was still singing in the night.
Its song was beautiful.
It sang for a long time.
And the person inside listened for a long time.
The sound of pen on paper finally began again.
It was brief, and then it stopped.
Two words were added next to the name 'Roxy,' which he had written subconsciously last night out of pure longing.
They were—
Sylphie.
"Sylphie?"
In the corridor, a soft knock was accompanied by a voice that was clearly trying to be quiet, almost a whisper.
Rudeus stood in front of Sylphie's door. He glanced nervously at Alan's door next to hers, debating whether he should just go back and try again another time.
The next moment, the door opened.
Sylphie peeked out. She had already taken off the moon-white dress Hilda had given her and was now wearing the tracksuit-like outfit she often wore in Buena Village.
She glanced to the side and also whispered, "Perfect timing, Rudeus. I was just about to look for you. I didn't expect you to come first. Come in, let's talk."
Rudeus paused, then seemed to understand something. He nodded and stepped inside.
With a faint click, the door closed.
Rudeus and Sylphie looked at each other. He immediately began to speak.
"Something was very wrong with Alan's spar today. So I went to find Ghislaine just now and got the full story… The conclusion seems to be that Alan is having some problems with his mental state…"
Sylphie leaned against the door and lowered her eyes.
"His mental state…"
Rudeus looked at her.
"And you?"
"I went to ask Eris about what Ghislaine said… Eris's tone was as straightforward as ever… Although I didn't quite understand everything, I could basically tell that her story matched yours, just with some words of encouragement for Eris's progress mixed in… It probably has to do with advancing in the Sword God Style…"
They were silent for a moment.
"Rudeus… what do you think about the current situation?"
"Alan's attitude towards Lord Philip and Lord Sauros is basically what I expected. He's been very mature. But there's one person who clearly makes him act strangely…"
Sylphie blinked and looked down at the floor.
She thought of the row of clothes in Hilda's bedroom that should have belonged to Alan.
"The lady of the house."
"Yes. Alan is very composed… No matter how Lord Philip and Lord Sauros treated him, he didn't react much. But it was the lady's reaction to him… she was very friendly… I think that's what's making him uncomfortable… just like he was at my house before last winter… Sylphie, do you think we should help him?"
"…I believe in Alan."
Rudeus raised his eyebrows.
"You think Alan is infallible?"
Sylphie looked down without a word.
Rudeus looked at her expression, then after a moment, rolled his eyes helplessly.
There were some things that he, as a true 'outsider,' could see more clearly.
"Alright, I also think there's still plenty of time. Maybe it's just like in Buena Village, Alan just needs some time to adjust. Then I'll head back first."
Sylphie nodded and moved aside.
Rudeus walked past her.
"But I still think Alan might need help. Because you've seen what's happened over the past two years… he's not very good at handling these kinds of things, is he?"
The door opened, and Rudeus stepped out.
He turned his head.
In the moment the door closed, in the shrinking field of vision, Sylphie was standing there with her head lowered, contemplating something.
In the background of the bedroom, a candle flickered on the desk.
The chair in front of the desk had been pulled out, as if someone had been sitting there writing something until just a moment ago.
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