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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 11: Meet Her Family

I should have expected this eventual meeting to be as unpleasant as Zenith had many times perceived it.

It didn't take long for Zenith's family to finally catch up to the situation to the fullest and instantly claim a few minutes to speak with my group about 'issues with their noble lineage being attacked'. A room was provided, guards were set at the door and the chilling silence that soon ensued when we all sat down by the large and semi-circular table did nothing to lessen the unease. Zenith's mother, Claire, looked genuinely livid and... I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous myself.

It wasn't like I feared her, but the sight had me thinking of how my mother would have reacted if I suddenly bailed from my previous life on my own volition. She wouldn't have been as vicious-looking, and there was also the arranged marriage to factor within the situation. The rest of the party was holding the situation quite well. Ghislaine was visibly annoyed, but said nothing nor showed anything which would enable any confrontation. Likewise, both Geese and Elinalise studied the circumstance with a cautious glance.

Still, someone ultimately spoke and... it was someone that had gained less attention compared to the annoyed older woman.

"Apologies, but I believe an introduction has been skipped due to the suddenness of the matter," A polite voice called and we all turned to see the man sitting beside the glaring mother. "My name is Carlisle Latreia, Earl of Pratenia, and this is my wife, Lady Claire. Beside us are our son, Edgar, and our daughters, Anise and Therese."

Should I be worried that both 'children' were young adults wearing armor and swords. Like, normally that wouldn't be a problem- but these two had reasons to be jumpy at any wrong word due to the fact I could tell they were older than Zenith. They were respectively her older brother and sister.

And while I was sure things weren't as intense and ferocious as many Italians would be, that doesn't mean these two would skip the duty to 'protect their younger sibling' if they so deemed necessary. Plus Therese, who seemed to be more of a younger sister, but nonetheless as protective of the girl as much as her other siblings.

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance," I replied politely, bowing my head. "My name is John Bukharin, and this group here is my adventurers' party. Ghislaine, Geese, and Elinalise."

They all nodded the moment their names came up, and then I proceeded to spare a quick glance to Zenith.

"I suppose Zenith is already known to you, so I will refrain from 'reintroducing' her."

"Indeed," The Earl confirmed calmly. "Alas, the situation itself is-"

"You kidnapped her." Claire accused, interrupting her husband.

"Dear-"

"I refuse to see it any differently. Our daughter right now is a prisoner to this foolish oaf that believes he has any right to speak as if he knows what decorum and etiquette is," The noblewoman remarked harshly, staring right at me. "And I don't care what fancy sword or reason you can muster, Bukharin. But I will never accept anything to justify the current situation my daughter is in."

I stared back at her with extreme calm but a growing inner impatience that was really poking at my mind at that moment. I just couldn't afford to make any wrong steps. I just had to see her spiel as an opportunity to win this situation over for Zenith.

"Truly an interesting accusation, but I'm afraid to say, Lady Latreia, that your subjective take on the matter doesn't quite fit with the truth."

"Mr. Bukharin, I'm sure that you and my daughter can provide some insight on the matter... my wife is just concerned-"

"Furious," Claire tried to correct but her husband huffed.

"Concerned about what happened to our daughter. Zenith has been missing for a long time now and it's quite the surprise to find her in this curious circumstance," Carlisle 'elaborated' in an effort to run some damage-control. "I hope you wouldn't mind if we inquired some more about this topic."

I frowned. "I see no reason to deny such a reasonable request. In fact, I believe it would be best for Zenith to be the one to provide answers since I have no issue in letting her take care of this. Although, I would request for her to not be subjected to any... loud reaction. At least not until she is done with this."

"A fair point," The Earl stressed flatly, aiming a strong look at his wife and seeing the woman merely huff at him before actually nodding at him. "Now, Zenith... how are you?"

"I'm well, father," Zenith replied quietly. "How are you?"

He offered a smile. "Most healthy."

They shared a brief silent smile, with Carlisle starting questioning for real.

"From what I understand you are now in a party of adventurers, right? Was it from the very beginning?"

There was some hesitation, but the blonde shook her head. "I tagged along to some parties before, never joining one. That went for a few months and then John and I started to tag around for missions a lot. Finally when Ghislaine joined us it was decided to just form a party to better handle mission-related documents."

There was some nodding at that logic from both her father and older siblings, with Therese giving off an expression of someone that was just learning of this while her mother seemed to barely care for this topic. The rest of the conversation was quite quick-paced. The Earl asked many questions and all of those were relatively easy to answer.

I think that, at one point, he even snuck a question about my attitude towards Zen and the others, but the girl was so honest and blunt about how things worked that any ill intention vanished from most of the family. All except Claire. I was still the spawn of Satan in her eyes. But then something came up which seemed to do something about it. And it all started when the economic situation was brought up.

"...Apologies, dear. But did you say that Mr. Bukharin has invested in shops in the town you live in?"

Now, what Carlisle had heard was quite true. I had put money in the shops to guarantee a fruitful investment program out of it. I was definitely going to standardize it in the next few months, but that was still something unheard of for a couple of reasons. Starting with the fact adventurers never thought of what comes after their days of glory.

They were always min-maxing their budget to fit the day and the overall adventure, and only a few did things to secure themselves a stable life after their career. So, to hear I had already set things up to guarantee myself and the others a satisfactory economic situation after the party disbanded truly seemed to gain attention from the nobles, specifically those that were aware of these situations.

Zen frowned and nodded. "Y-Yeah, he has been using part of the money the party is using to create a... system to support us once the party will disband."

"That sounds quite peculiar," Claire muttered in what felt like a rare moment of curiosity. "Pray tell, Zenith, how is the living situation engaged by your... 'party'?"

Due to who asked the question, Zenith was a bit more nervous than before. "We bought a house just recently. It was renovated so that it could fit with our current members plus one or two more."

"That's an interesting investment," The Earl's son pointed out with a surprised tone. "Are you provided with your share of money for your work?"

"Yes, of course. I generally use it during the free days I get from work to either buy things I want or can help me further my education."

"You're still studying despite the labors of your current work, Zenith? Are you even claiming enough sleep hours?" Claire pressed with... genuine worry, and her daughter nodded.

"While at first we had to handle quests on a daily basis, now we are mostly focusing on dealing with a couple of those every few free days," She answered warmly. "We all decided that while it would be convenient for an intense schedule, it would be wrong to push ourselves into the brink of exhaustion, and that training and studying could help make up for any flaws as we rest."

There was sympathy for that decision and I could sense pride coming from the Earl towards his daughter's genuine attention to her current work and life. But where things seemed to be turning for a pleasant closure which offered me less pressure on my relationship with Zenith, that didn't mean I was out of trouble. Not when Claire had more to ask and had questions tied to that very topic.

"Alas, I believe there is this one question that has to be asked. What is your level of commitment to one another?"

Zenith's face burned in embarrassment. "M-Mother-"

"What is your intention with our daughter, Bukharin?" The noblewoman asked me. "I can tell from a mile you two are close, and I will refrain from pressuring you both from admitting the extent of your intimacy- however, I demand you provide a serious answer to your commitment to Zenith."

That was quite the strong push, and one that really left me in an awkward position. Was I worrying about it? A tiny bit, but not to the point of being frightened by her. I just had the right speech to provide without fearing any repercussion on what Zenith and I were within our own bond.

"If we continue to foster our closeness, I am of the strong belief an union may emerge," I reasoned calmly, Zenith's eyes widening but mostly because I was holding her hand in that moment. "If Zenith is ready by that time, then I think it will happen."

"..."

There was a bit of silence from both sides of the conversation, but the pressure was nonetheless chilling for a while. That was until Zenith hummed and nodded.

"Yes, John is not wrong. I wish to consider that eventuality too in due time. I'm willing to put my honor and faith upon this decision."

"...So be it then," Claire proclaimed quietly, looking at her husband. "I see no point in stressing this point any more."

A surprised look crossed on the face of most of the family's faces. "Truly dear?" The earl inquired and the woman sighed loudly.

"As much as I find this whole development most displeasing, I have to say that Zenith has not forsaken her ties to our family, nor has she lost her common sense from the looks of it," Clair admitted. "Alas, I will make this very clear, Bukharin. My daughter is the flesh and blood of mine. Hurt her, and I shall make sure you will not live for long. Do you understand?"

I slowly nodded and... that was pretty much it. With the parents vacating to check on other businesses, the siblings spoke some more to further expand what they knew of their missing sibling and reconnect with her. Zenith was ecstatic to learn that Therese had started to train to become a Temple Knight. I was barely around to speak with them, but I could tell Zenith needed to be alone with them for some time and... she was just so happy once that was over. After that intense meeting, the rest of our stay at Shirone was mostly uneventful.

With the nobles and representatives sharing opinions and offers on how to handle the situation, soon a decision came up on how to handle the situation and harsher controls were imposed within that section of the border. Milis was willing to join that bloc to prevent any of that spilling in their kingdom and soon it became apparent that what would have been the good setting for some political twists turned out more like the ground of chatting and bickering, most of which detailing topics that weren't even relevant to the reason for this emergency session.

Something noteworthy which I refrained to mention was that I had seen Geese and Therese talk in private. It was mere talking, with no hints of flirting... but I did sense some tension between the two. So, I wasn't that surprised when Geese mentioned to me his interest in exchanging letters with Therese and asked me to help him with excuses so he could do it in relative peace once back home. It was an interesting pairing for sure, and one I didn't see coming. Were they going to become something serious? Maybe. I just wasn't 100% sure that it was going to happen.

But I wouldn't mind setting Geese with someone that he likes and can depend on. He sure looks in need of a stable romantic relationship himself.

Philip had things wrapped up just in time to make the trips match with the expected timing. We were soon making our way back home and passing through all the stops we took during our arrival. Everything was fine and well, and soon we were back home. Two days of rest were called as the money made from this quest was enough for a mini-break. Nothing too extensive, but just enough to deal with all paperworks that needed to be handled with our return. All was good and well for some time, but where I thought things would get back to normal and provide us with less exciting missions to further expand our funds, I was also sure fate had other things in mind.

Especially when we were asked to handle a new mission tied to an expedition from Ranoa Magic Academy.

AN

Oh my gawd! A surprise visit! Who is it? What will it mean for this story? And yes, I may have created an interesting GeeseXTherese pairing (Rudy's surrogate uncle x Rudy's young aunt).

REVIEW Q&A!

JustAFan123: Yep.

Brunobstr: Yes, but there is also the fact that the timeline is wacky on how long Paul's party has been around. Mostly 'a year or so' in canon, and Rudy came to be just a few months after the party disbanded. So, it's not too surreal for Eris to be a few years old at this point, especially since the instory timeline already passed Rudy's birth.

Guest (Chapter 12): John's God is actually an interesting fellow. Let's just say I will make it somewhat amusing and yet telling that there are situations where deities of a dimension should dabble on. Especially when they spurn another dimensional deity in the process.

Guest 2 (Chapter 12): There is going to be a big change soon in terms of members. Prepare for a few shocking developments towards who joins the party in the next few chapters.

Poharan: Thanks! I think the reason why it feels so organic to write an SI like John is tied to how I slowly learned to bring up not just the qualities but the flaws. I recently watched a few videos on how a Hero's Journey should be molded, and I unconsciously tapped into that. The key to succeed is to provide a character, that is flawed, that is relatable to a degree but not completely, and give him the chance to grow not only in power but personality. So yeah, I would dare to say it wasn't always like that, but the more I delve into this matter, the more I fix the small smudges of 'issues' I leave behind from my early attempts.