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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation and other products set in the same universe are all owned by Rifujin na Magonote, Shirotaka, Shosetsuka ni Naro, Media Factory, and Studio Bind.

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Chapter 2: Bonding over First Kills

Meet Zenith.

If you have noticed, I used no last name in that abysmal introduction as, by her own narration, she was orphaned at a young age... and yet she possessed magic knowledge that could only be learned at professional schools. Now, there was no reason to believe one could just learn magic on the spot or from a wandering teacher... but I was quite sure the staff she used for most of her incantations was far from cheap. And that raised a few red flags about her background being different than the one she provided.

Still, I could tell one thing about her suspicious predicament: She wasn't planning anything that would put me in danger... same for others.

In fact, one would be right to assume the only one she should be worried about is her own self. You see, the lovely blonde that sounded so chirpy, jovial and yet shy and rather reserved was a... how do I put it- oh yes, she lacks a backbone. Not in the 'I can only be pacifist' kind of backbone-lacking. She allowed others to push her around a lot. To the point where she got tricked in receiving a lesser pay than a normal healer should more than once. Something the receptionist at the Adventure Guild picked up quickly and saw through to have this mess resolved... by sticking the girl with me.

It wasn't a babysitting job, quite the contrary. I was meant to have her around as I went through this 'difficult mission' for the Guild. D-Rank was no joke, but since it was just a day-long trip to escort a merchant to a nearby settlement with small chances of trouble, I really failed to see the need for a healer. Instead of spending too much time trying to understand how that was even that convenient to the guild, I just allowed it to be a good reason to make some easy money.

The only issue I could report as we were walking towards the city's gates to meet with the client was that Zenith was... chatty. Once her worry dulled well enough to not stutter anymore, the blonde was keen to give in to her curiosity and ask some quick questions.

"How long have you been an adventurer?"

"A while."

"Oh, does that mean that you know how to handle this work that well?"

"I am a novice, but I believe I understand the logic behind it."

"I see, but what about prices... surely, you had some trouble understanding-"

"I'm not a healer, Zenith. I don't have to worry about the changing rates in that regard. I'm average in that context."

She nodded. "Oh. Still... you can handle that kind of thing, right? It can be quite difficult for someone with- I mean, it would definitely be troublesome for a noble."

I couldn't help but think that Zenith's secret wasn't that much of a secret if this was how she interacted with people. At this point, it was clear that she was a noble, perhaps one of those girls that didn't want to be a pretty doll to their parents' demands and just bailed for a life of adventure and risks. Such as this one. Sadly, Zenith made a mistake that was already weighing heavily over her head, like a Damocles' sword: she was too naive and inexperienced with people she didn't know. One thing could be being rebellious, another is to allow emotion alone to push you away into an unknown territory and take risks that would really put you in some bad end doujinshi situation.

"Zenith," I said with a calm voice, showing none of the frustration that was slowly forming while interacting with this woman. The girl spared me a long look, paying full attention to my interruption. "You really need to work on your social skills, that is what's really dragging you down in getting decent party members."

Her lips twitched. "I-It's not that simple."

"Why not?"

"Well, what if- what if they don't like me? What if I'm too obnoxious and... fail to help them when they need it?"

"...That sounds stupid."

"It isn't!" The blonde exploded, stunning me with that unexpected outburst. "There is nothing wrong in worrying about others' lives- are you- you stupid?"

...

I was still thinking of that rebuttal when suddenly I was once more surprised. This time with an apology.

"S-Sorry, I shouldn't have been that... that loud."

A few heads had turned in our direction, but I paid them zero attention beyond a quick glance.

"I think the issue is that you didn't grasp what I was calling stupid. Everyone should value life, that doesn't mean they should allow their insecurities to prevent doing that."

"Uh?"

She looked stunned, and perhaps I was too blunt about the topic.

"If you are not joining groups and not being there to help as a healer, what happens if they are stuck in some bad situations? Wouldn't that too be your fault?"

The blonde frowned in confusion at that confusing notion mentioned with so little basis to it. Willingly said at that.

"W-Well, how would I... I know that it was my fault?"

"Then why should you live by unknown factors if you don't believe in those?" I shot back, narrowing my eyes briefly at her. She stiffened her posture, looking away as she blushed in embarrassment. "If you want to help, then help. But do it while making sure they know your value and don't ridicule your standing as a healer. There has to be a pride about it, or you're just not going to make it past E-Rank."

That seemed enough to leave her pensive on the matter, and enough for this trip to come to an end as the real journey soon began. The merchant was alone. He had a sad case of a 'lazy son with a slight 'being fat' situation'. Now, I wasn't there to fat-shame anyone, but the fact he was already trying to get Zenith's attention and being rather pushy about it put me in some serious alarm. So, as the open-roof carriage started to make its way towards its destination, crossing the gates and entering the nearby forest as the path to the next city was mostly hidden by trees, I would spare a few glances behind and see how Zenith was faring with Mr. Lazy Boy.

My glances didn't pass unnoticed, and the merchant used the distance between us and them to speak up his mind.

"My son will not touch the lady," He argued roughly, surprising me with that comment. "If you hadn't seen yet, that girl isn't exactly letting him get close enough. Something that is already a good enough warning to not try anything funny."

...

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Why shouldn't I? You are my guards, the last thing I need is for my son to distract one of you and leave us partially undefended."

Smart logic, he wanted to make sure that the money he put in this circumstance wasn't half-wasted due to some stupid decisions. I would still check from time to time, but I got further confirmation of what the merchant said when I saw Zenith start to slap those big and sweaty hands... and her slaps were enough to redden the guy's palms and properly stop that kind of behavior. Everything was going great... until it wasn't.

Someone was soon standing in the middle of the road, smiling calmly as the chariot started to slow down. In my opinion, the guy should have charged in and slammed through the bastard. It was clearly a bandit, and alone at that moment. Even if there were buddies nearby, none would have been able to intervene and stop us at the high speed we were going.

"S-Sir, what are you doing in the middle of the road?" The merchant asked with a mixture of confusion and dread. "You were almost hit."

This 'Sir' looked like the kind of guy that tried to pull a Kenshiro's cosplay but ended up pulling a Travis Scott's Batman. Really cheap and not as frightening as he wanted to look like. He was definitely trying to appear tough and all but...

"Only doing my job, you old fart. And trying to hit me? Isn't that discourteous? That would make my brothers, the Hundred Bushes Bandits quite annoyed."

"The... Hundred Bushes Bandits?"

What kind of dumbass name was that? It's less threatening than something like the 'Hundred Squatting Slavs'. At least that would demand some vodka for a resolution, which wasn't available in this new world. So yes, Squatting Slavs would be a threat that couldn't be talked out of a conflict.

"Yeah! My friends and I like to hang around and tease little shits like you when you pass the road," The moron explained, gesturing to the left side of the road, right where numerous bushes had started to move on their own. It couldn't have been mere winds, not in such a narrow section of the forest, and not to this extent. "So, here's the deal. You hand out enough money to pay the toll, and you all live another day."

The merchant spared me a look and... I shrugged. "I suppose I can pay."

The old man gave me a perplexed glance, unsure why I would want to pay the demanded sum myself. But the small bag filled with 'coins' was actually packing some... sand. It was cheap, and it was something useful to blind opponents when needed. Plus, it acted as a nice way to trick people into believing that I was handing out money like that.

The bandit's grin was unnerving me to the point where my regrets hit the lowest when it came to spare his life. I just didn't care, he had to die and then we would move. One moment, the very instant where the bag landed on his palm, that's where I struck. A knife was less than a sword in a fair fight when the former was owned by an inexperienced user... but it was quicker to use when there was an affordable range of action.

The shithead barely noticed what was going on, he just couldn't. The short blade rushed upward and then dove onto his skull through his forehead. His body went stiff, then limp, his gaze from shocked to tired and... dead sleepy. I retrieved the bag, but I also took a moment to retrieve his sword before letting his body fall.

I turned around, ready to face a large group of screeching men running at me. What I got was a large ball of water suddenly exploding right onto my chest. I didn't suffer any serious damage at first, the blast just propelling backward as I was instantly slammed onto a tree. My back groaned at the impact, but that was the further damage I got. One of the branches sticking out from the trunk cut into my upper shoulder, ripping part of the shirt I was wearing and slicing onto my flesh, a few others doing the same on my sides and leaving some gashes there.

"H-How dare you! Kill my brother like that?"

Brother? I was surprised that dickhead even had a mother to begin with. More water slammed onto me, with only the power packed in the throw doing some serious damage and slamming me further onto the tree.

"F-Fuck off," I exclaimed, trying to get out of my sticky situation and rush to kill the mage.

I just had to get in range to kill him but... I soon learned a lesson when it comes to water magic in this kind of situation. It might not be one of the strongest or, at least, the most destructive, but it could be spammed and could become troublesome when the user started to barrage their target with small pellets of water. Despite the large assault of wetness, not much of it landed on my clothes as most of it settled only my armor, leaving the other parts of my body free from that chilling attack.

Then the water stopped 'raining' onto me. The bastard's head was now on fire, with the man screaming his lungs out as he tried to put it out, seemingly forgetting about his magic due to his current issue. I saw someone advance towards me. Another bandit? No, it was Zenith. The woman quickly rushed to my side, using magic as green particles suddenly rushed at me and healed all my injuries. Even my back pain was gone. The blonde smiled in relief, slightly winded by the effort and seemingly ready to try and do something about the remaining bandit when... she realized that the guy was now on the ground, not moving, and with most of his flesh on his head gone.

Shock and horror flashed on her face, and I could tell she was getting closer by the second into vomiting her soul before that grotesque sight. She didn't, luckily enough, but mostly because I moved to cover her sight and urge her back to the chariot. The worry was that the merchant could have still been in trouble... but that proved to not be the case. It was there that the truth about the 'Hundred Bushes Bandits' came out: It was all a trick. One handled the tricking by using wind magic to move several bushes at once, the other handled the bullshitting to sell the story to naive morons passing this part of the woods.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, with Zenith keeping quiet as she sat right behind me and away from the merchant's son. Not a surprise considering she took her first kill, but definitely a surprise for me to take care of the 'shoulder to rest on' kind of job. The mission was over by the time I had to get through dinner and go back to sleep at the nearby Inn. I thought about Zenith for a while, but then realized that she was definitely not going to bother me for a while. She got her fair share of adventure and money, and I doubted I was going to somehow find her that next morning. Not with what happened just recently.

Then I learned that it wasn't going to be the case as someone ended up knocking at the door of my room. It was midnight, I was tired and... and I opened the door to reveal a certain healer wearing a nightgown. Now, that would have been some massive red flags due to how quickly she was planning to get in my bed. Yet her reasons to be there were different. Puffy red eyes, tears still rolling and a face that said all but trying to seduce/flirt with me.

"C-Can I stay here tonight?"

She had a nightmare, she imagined the shrieks of pain. Pain she inflicted. Her first kill, she claimed and I let her in on one condition. A condition that I was soon regretting considering Zenith was soon sleeping on my recently used bed, face nuzzling onto my warm pillows... while I was sitting on the goddamn sturdy wooden chair, rocking back and forth to try and fall asleep with the least comfort available.

She deserved it, I thought. That was her first kill.

But you also killed a man too today. For the first time.

The difference rested in the reactions and the way it impacted on our development. I found the entire situation distasteful while the death felt legitimate enough to respond to that kind of mess before it became too big to ignore. Meanwhile Zenith was some silly girl with silly ideas of adventuring.

She was rather chaste in her behavior and I could tell that she wasn't one that looked at this situation favorably in normal instances. Too upright in some aspects... which is why I could tell it had left a deep impact behind to kill someone like that. Not only tricked out of some proper payments, but also forced to claim her first kill at E-Rank. It wasn't as common as it sounded, especially when bandit-related missions were generally dealt by D-Rank adventurers.

I didn't spend much time overthinking this and... I just fell asleep on that chair.

And as I slept and recovered from the long day, I failed to notice Zenith opening her eyes and giving me a long look before mouthing something right at my unconscious self.

'Thank you, John.'

AN

Argh! Already claiming the bed! What a shameful display! Still, expect some surprises in the next chapter. Who's going to be the next guild's member? Make your bets!