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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 9: The House's Rogue

You know, it's kind of fun when a person.

Young or old, get to see the result of some hard paid effort before their own eyes and know they can reap many benefits out of their involvement. And, after another month had gone by, we could finally see how the money invested in building our house matured into the safe haven we could call ours. Zenith's eyes were wide open at the finalized construction of the party's home, her mouth forming a big smile at how big our new home was. Eli was close next in terms of delight, the elf awed by the notion of having a stable place where to live and return to after explorations and adventures. I was delighted by both reactions, but I believe the one that hit the hardest was Ghislaine's.

As I had expected, the beast woman was awed. Like, really awed, but didn't go out of her way to show off her emotions in that regard. I thought she would have held back from showing 'too much of it', but there was something in her staring that felt incredibly different than other moments of surprise where that face would come up. It felt like she was transfixed by the view, floored by the circumstance and somewhat overwhelmed by it. Also, her tail was lost in a slow wag. It was quite slow, but it was definitely wagging at the sight. All of that I could find in a single 'difference' within her overall posture. And I confirmed all of that when I raised a simple comment.

"Glad to see you're really excited about the new home, Ghislaine."

The words were quick to get a reaction, with the woman's visible eye darting from the building to me. She had a light blush on her face as she ultimately uttered something about what I just said.

"Hmm."

It wasn't a strong 'hmm', but rather something softer and quite awkward which was, by all definitions, adorable. Zenith didn't notice, still too taken by the building and soon asking to get inside to check the indoors while Elinalise was able to pick up the odd reaction and smile at it much to the beast woman's chagrin. Despite this silly development, the rest of that interesting day was particularly tedious. While the construction was indeed concluded, the place was mostly barren and devoid of private stuff. Beds were already there, same for the fireside, kitchen areas, and bathrooms, but rooms assigned to each of us lacked stuff to personalize them.

Something which I solved by having budgets prepared. We would all get a limited amount of money to spend for the rest of that day and get the things I needed. I didn't worry about Ghislaine's interests on the matter as she reasoned she needed just some new clothes for emergency sake (with Zenith having relentlessly drilled that much of a necessity despite her dislike for having too much in that department) and maybe a training dummy or two to use in her room, I still had to dread the fact when both Eli and Zen found it a good idea to turn me in their 'special judge' for the shopping spree they wanted me to join.

Yes, I know, I shouldn't be complaining because a guy whining about a shopping spree is quite stereotypical and wrong at times. But let's be clear, that's not the point. I wasn't worried about 'whining over the boredom' tied to shopping, but I was dreading the notion tied to that kind of circumstance since they wanted to test out normal clothes and some lingerie I wasn't prepared to handle in broad daylight. It was an interesting development I hadn't foreseen within these circumstances and it sure left me to think a lot about the situation I was stuck with. I had been struggling a lot to come to terms with the fact that my party wasn't a harem, but the more I looked into it, the more I felt like I may or may not have struck some spots with the three women which appealed to their unique brands of romance. Worst of all, I couldn't help but see that instead of the standard 'rivalry to be the one', the girls looked ready to actually cooperate with one another.

It wasn't a 100% fact as I was basing that supposition over some hints I found while interacting with them. I may be a bit stupid at times when it comes to a particular branch of social interactions, but I wasn't outright braindead or dense about it. The real issue was how much of that was true and how I was meant to gauge the level of response I had to push for. Just because there was a strong chance, that didn't mean it was an absolute matter, and even there I couldn't exactly waltz in and go 'we are all in a relationship now'.

One thing I really, really frustrated over when it came to the concept of harem is how much on the 'sexual' aspect of it many shows expanded on. I could tell the girls were more into the romantic elements of it, and I was worried that was going to be a tedious task regardless of any form of arrangement that could come out from this. That shopping day further cemented that notion and I started to wonder if, just to lessen the burden of the girls focusing only on me and turning the party into something else, I should try to get a new party member for us. Maybe a guy. Definitely a guy. Someone that could be trustworthy and also provide a good addition to the party to keep it intact.

But who would fit the bill?

Paul was instantly removed from the short list. I just didn't see any pros in actually letting him around the others. It would be the worst move possible. I had a few individuals in mind whom I had met at the guild but... most of the good ones were already at parties, while the rest were married and thus would face some flak if they were even so friendly with Elinalise. I just didn't see the point of subjecting anyone to that kind of pressure from their wives. No, it had to be someone that wasn't married, didn't give a crap about the rumors tied to Elinalise and was more than just a horn-dog wagging his tail at any hot girl in the area.

For a week or so, I found nothing and I thought I wasn't going to find someone that was going to match these requirements within the next few months or more. My pessimistic view was thus shattered when I found myself handling a situation very similar to how I met Zenith and where we ended up tagging along with a lone adventurer. Geese Nukadia was not a stranger to this place or to us. Zen and I had met him once months ago while he was still struggling to pay back some fellow adventurers for a debt he incurred in a card game. For a while we all thought he just bailed on the responsibility when he promised he would have found a way to get all the money needed to do it, but then he returned close to a week ago to get all the coins needed to fit the bill plus some extra for the 'interests'.

"Johnny and Zenny, how's you two?" He cheerfully greeted me as he paused from talking with the receptionist. "And oh my, John! I thought you said you weren't a foxy boy."

My shoulders sagged at that. "It's not like that."

Elinalise held back a snort, but some of the noise did reach my ear, thus getting me to glance at her much to her deep amusement.

"Sure, sure, I'll trust you with being a gentleman to these fine ladies and... Ghislaine. How are you?"

"Getting stronger," The beast woman answered flatly, and the last survivor of the Nuka tribe grinned widely at that.

"Glad to hear that. Never stop getting amazing and kick asses," Geese remarked happily, his gaze turning to the elf staring at him with a curious look. "And oh my, I heard of ya. Quick question, how much of what I heard is true?"

"A bit," Eli replied cryptically and the young man nodded.

"Fair enough. Don't want to disrespect, just looking for Johnny's poor behind since he is super-kind with others. Even to cheeky me."

I shook my head. "I just gave you an apple. That's hardly charity."

"But it's the gesture that matters," He rebuked jovially. "Also, I suppose you are the party that is going to be assigned to me for this little case."

I frowned at these words and spotted a sheepish look now resting on the guild receptionist's face. Turns out that Geese was looking to take part in a mini-quest tied to some bandits-busting operation. Differently than usual, it seems that a nearby town had to deal with some well-organized bandits which were changing ambush spots on an hourly basis, thus preventing any low-rank adventurers from dealing with this issue. We were meant to get within the area where most of the ambushes happened, patrol the area and then deal with the camp. It was easy in nature, not as much in practice as the case itself wasn't just about destroying the camp and killing/arresting the bandits.

We were also meant to make a list of the things there so the guards knew the things that were to be returned to the previous owners or the family of those that died during those attacks. Sounded reasonably tough, but I saw no reason to worry about it. The only detail that forced the guild to assign such a high rank for this mission was the organization of these bandits behind these attacks. I didn't ignore the chances that someone smart had to be in charge of that whole operation and how that could present some surprises during our search, but I felt confident we had it in the bag.

Geese was a lovely companion to have around and the rest of the party found it easy to talk with him. It took a while, but even Eli found it within herself to ask questions about Geese's life. Both found a form of kinship to one another, a cordial and friendly one at that since both found their past loneliness as common ground for some conversation. It didn't go too deep about the topics, but the talk dragged on for a while as we ended up spending several hours trying to track down where the bastards were hiding. Two more attacks occurred, both of which were disrupted by our presence.

If before we could have enjoyed the element of surprise, these clashes left some bandits to get back to their base. It was clear we weren't going to have an easy approach due to this, and that put me and Geese through what I considered the best circumstance possible between our minds. We sat down by the nearby town's barracks together with the chief of the guards. The man hadn't expected us to inquire for his help, expecting us to deal with this problem on our own, but there was a reason tied to the request of manpower to help and it wasn't about 'fighting capacity'. While we were going to be 'more than enough' to handle this mess, the issue was another one.

We all agreed that leaving any bandit to escape the assault would be bad. And while I trusted the party's abilities to deal with most of these people, I doubted we would be able to see and react in time if someone decided to bail during the attack and escape away from our reach. Geese provided estimations of where the bandit camp was and where it was best to hold out and then attack through some maps he got and tracking the directions from where the attacks started, showing off once more his quality of being a tactician when put through a simple operation as this one and bringing up details tied to the bandits' own clothes and weapons why gave the guards some places to check in town to see if others had taken refuge within the settlement and were providing assistance to the bandits themselves.

So, the plan was to involve the guards more as a 'blanket' to expand our reach. We would encircle the camp and slowly close down to it before then attacking. Not only would that provide the means for the guards to arrest those that escaped the combat or that surrendered to us, but it also gave the guards the chance to get the stuff moved back in the city once the assault was over rather than having to waste time getting this notice and being told to bring a wagon or two to recover the stolen goods.

The battle was relatively fast as training started to pay off. Elinalise had joined the session herself to refine her pace, with speed and attack power 'having reached peak performance' as she was quick to admit. It wasn't to say that those couldn't be further bolstered by magic, but made it clear she saw no reason to expand on these two factors. Ghislaine's 'ferocious' assault was much more focused and less berserk-like. Her high speed was better controlled by her and the beast woman showed greater precision in delivering attacks.

My own pace and reaction time had picked up too through the last month. Intense training had indeed paid off to the point I felt confident to say I could actually match Paul in a fight. Match, but not necessarily beat. The suppression campaign ended around the early evening and we were soon spending an hour or so counting the bandits, checking the resources that lasted within the camp and putting all of that down on paper. The guards helped take the corpses elsewhere so they could either be put in graves or cremated, with the prisoners having long been taken back to town to be put behind bars.

There was a lot to write down and, even more pressing, a lot more to put on the wagons. The tedious job ended before midnight and, as we were wrapping things up, I decided to offer Geese one of the guest rooms at our newest home since the inn was possibly closed at that time. I thought I would have gotten some issues from the girls, but I didn't much to my relief. Zen had also hinted about doing that and Ghislaine and Eli found no issue in housing the pleasant young man for the night. Geese was stunned by the offer, tears flowing out of his eyes and all of that. He was so 'touched' by it that he offered to cook with us. Turns out that the guy was an amazing chef. I didn't expect it, and neither did the girls.

The food he made was ten times better than what I did (which is saying much considering how good I was through some lessons from my mother) and Zenith was instantly questioning the sheepish-looking Geese about where he learned to cook this good and stuff of that kind. The praises definitely left the poor dude stunned even further and not without reason. Due to his past as a thief, not many saw fit to pick the guy to join their parties. And while that would normally be justified from someone actually trying and getting robbed thus confirming that some of that 'kleptomancy' from his thieving day still existed, none of that really happened. In fact, the guy had been 'clean' for months if not years.

Thus, it didn't come as a surprise when, the next day, I brought up the idea of asking Geese to join the group. It was a bit sudden, with Zenith hesitating a bit but admitting he could fit well with the chemistry we all had running within the party. Ghislaine didn't mind, actually seeing the point of getting the man in our team and admitting he saw no hints of ill intent in his actions during the mission from the previous day. Eli was the one that pushed the most for it, complimenting Geese as a 'very interesting individual' and 'not for the reasons many would expect from her'. When the guy finally woke up and offered to make breakfast, we decided to broke the news to him and-

"B-But wouldn't that be too sudden? I mean, it's not like I would say no but... too soon? Too sudden?" I never saw him behave this erratic- actually, I don't think anyone saw him sputter words like that. "Like, I get it, it worked well last time, but- but what if it doesn't and-"

"Yes or no?" I pressed and the guy huffed at me with a fake-serious look.

"Mou, Johnny! You can't bully me like that. I have feelings, I thought those mattered."

"Only if those make sense for yourself and others," I remarked flatly, cracking a smile at him. "Plus, I know you have been trying to find yourself a party for a while now and I think your skills would be put at good use."

"Even though I suck at fighting?" Geese inquired with a confused look. "I ain't a good combatant."

"And?" Zenith pointed out, frowning back at the young man.

The blonde didn't need to expand on that, the guy's eyes widening as he realized what she had just said.

"W-Well, I'm just not that useful with magic too."

"Aren't you good with mapping, plotting and cooking?" Elinalise pressed, a jovial tone leaving her lips and further nailing poor Geese in the corner.

"I..."

Ghislaine huffed. "Just take the offer if you want it. If not, then don't feel pressured into it."

...

"Fine. But! First two weeks will be a testing ground if this will work for us or not. I want to see how it goes first and then- then I will say 'yes or no'!"

I hummed and shrugged. "I guess that would be fine."

Despite his best efforts to sound more on the fence rather than positive to this offer, Geese's bodily language just confirmed my suspicions of being intrigued by the offer and I could tell that the next few weeks were indeed going to be interesting. I could see this going for something very interesting, especially on the front of giving Elinalise someone to talk to rather than restrict that to just me.

In a few more ways than I could predict on the spot.

AN

The Master Chief n' Thief has been recruited. Next up is a lemon which will be posted like the last one (within the sites where that kind of stuff is allowed and as an apart chapter).

REVIEW Q&A!

Kyugan:
1) 'The Real, True and Totally Did Happen Chronicles of King Artorias' by 'Silver W. King';
2) No.

Shakeval: Maybe soon. Maybe Zen will get experimental through some prompts from Elinalise.