Mushoku Tensei – Jobless Oblige - Chapter 3

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On the night of the crescent moon.

Somewhere in a corner of Magic City Sharia, there was an old warehouse which went unnoticed.

It was there, at a certain company’s dead stock warehouse which had fallen into disuse.

Despite it being such a place, there was a something there which shone faintly.

It was a light from a candle.

Rather, two candles.

In the warehouse, there were two people of whom were wearing hoods to cover their faces.

The two approached each other silently…

“The door of the house…”

“…must be tightly shut.”

In a low voice, they each confirmed the password with the other.

“The usual stuff, were you able to arrange it?”

“Yeah, it’s top of the line stuff.”

One party asked the question, and the other party answered. The sack which one of them was holding was placed onto a table.

And then, its contents were revealed.

Inside it, a large number of brown bags were packed tightly together.

The man who had brought the bag reached in, pulled one out, and then handed it to his companion as if telling him to check it.

When the other man opened the bag, he put a finger inside, and after he took it out, there was white powder stuck to it which he then licked.

With that, he then nodded.

“It’s high quality. When this is all sold, it should amount to a small fortune.”

“Then, I’ll gladly buy this from you.”

Saying that, the man who licked the white powder pulled out a small pouch from his pocket, and from within, he removed three gold coins.

“Whoa, no matter the reason 3 gold coins is… These are really Asura gold coins? Is it alright?”

“It might be a bit high to hand over to the guy who arranged for such quality goods, but I’d like to think of it as an investment.”

Asura gold coins.

Of all the gold coins, it was the one with the highest value.

It’s said that in other countries they are valued from several times to even tens of times their own gold coins.

And there were three such pieces.

It was a lot of money.

One could live and play around for quite a while in this town with that sum.

“Or perhaps, it is cheaper?”

“N-not at all, don’t be ridiculous. It’s more than enough.”

Before the man in front of him has time to say otherwise, the money was pocketed.

Seeing it before his own eyes and after the money was paid, the sack was pushed in the direction of the other man.

The transaction was complete.

The man who paid the money took hold of the sack in hand and closed it up. The man who received the money took care to put the coins in his purse and then stashed it away on his body.

After that, those two men, much in the same way they arrived, also left in silence. The man who transported the powder here proceeded to make arrangements for next time, and the man who bought the power will sell it somewhere else.

This is, of course, the unspoken agreement in this kind of shady business.

“But y’know, isn’t it a bit risky to be dealing this in the town?”

However, it shouldn’t become an issue.

The man who transported the powder raised his voice a little as he was concerned.

“What do you mean by ‘Isn’t it risky?’”

“This town is practically under the thumb of the Dragon God Orsted. Also in addition to him are the Magic King Rudeus and North God Kalman. If you try to sell that stuff with those dangerous guys who control this town, I’m telling you it could become a pretty bad situation. Or possibly, you are telling me you have a plan for dealing with that matter?”

“Whadda’ya know ‘bout that?”

“… As for Magic King Rudeus, the rumors say he is persistent. From out of nowhere, you’ll suddenly be buried up to your legs in trouble.”

“Ah.”

The man nodded his head as if he had been convinced.

Dragon King Orsted.

He was called one of the «Seven Great World Powers», and in this world he alone is considered to be the strongest in the world.

The two subordinates following him are leading figures here in the Magic City Sharia.

The two subordinates.

The right hand of the Dragon God, «Magic King» Rudeus.

The left hand of the Dragon God, «North God Kalman III» Alexander.

The former is a magician, the latter a swordsman.

Originally, wielding his sword as the vanguard, the swordsman was very hot-blooded and was said to be as strong as an army.

But when it comes to these two people, rather than an army… no, the one known for being more extreme, is Rudeus.

At a party in Asura Kingdom, a certain noble insulted God and he got angry, and there was a rumor that a certain neighborhood was burned down completely. All the residents who lived there were completely annihilated.

That Rudeus, so pleased with this town, called his Rudo Mercenary Corps to this town as his private army, as if it belonged to him.

If one goes about starting up that kind of “business” as they please in this town, what would become of it…?

“But those’re probably stories that’ve just followed him. I’ve been in this town for a while, and Rudeus hasn’t paid me any mind, so I don’t really know what’s there to be worried about, as long as it seems as if I’m not touching onto this guy’s turf, then I should be able to do it as much as I’d like.”

The man shrugged his shoulders as he said it.

Yes, even Rudeus is human.

Since he is nothing less than human, then he also has things he’s fond of, things he concerns himself with, and things he is biased against.

So, if he is human, then he is harmless to the operation, and as long as the view doesn’t become an eyesore, then he should remain indifferent.

The man, finding such a loophole, planned to sell as much of his powder as he can.

His drugs.

The Devil’s Medicine…

And so, the man who obtained great wealth laughs.

Being a man who relaxed in a luxurious house built upon all the people he had stepped on, vulgar laughing resounded.

However, right at that moment!

“I won’t let you do it!”

In the warehouse, a voice echoed.

“Who’s there!?”

The two men hold their candles out, searching the area.

And then they found it.

Overhead from the skylight, a lone man sat, looking down at them.

“Wha…”

The two men were speechless.

Was their secret meeting exposed?

No, the man had a moon on his back and a weird helmet attached.

His whole face was covered, it was a Full-face helmet.

His body was dressed in a lightweight outfit, and it was just the helmet that gave off a sense of incongruity.

“Who’s there!?”

“Fufu, me? I am the knight of the silver moon which shines in the darkness…”

The man in the helmet declared jovially.

“The Ally of Justice, Moon Knight, has arrived!”

At the mention of the name, the two men’s faces paled.

And once again, he said the same thing.

This time, it was in a calmer voice.

“Who are you?”

“Villain! To be selling these things in my beloved town! Here I come!”

The man in the helmet disregarded the second question.

Suddenly jumping down from the skylight, he dropped down and stood in between the two men.

The two men cannot hide their confusion.

“Tch, a nuisance huh! I won’t hand it over to you!”

However, he had no intention of allowing that stuff to become distributed.

The man holding the sack of powder unsheathed a sword from his waist.

Seeing the dull silver light, the man who received the money came to his senses.

“I-It’s none of your business!”

He lost his head and ran towards the exit while uttering such nonsense such as that it had nothing to do with the newcomer.

However, the man in the helmet did not let him escape.

「Ｍｏｏｎｌｉｇｈｔ・Ｋｎｕｃｋｌｅ！」

When the man in the helmet cries out, he turned around and, at a terrific speed, plunged into the man before him who had transported the powder with a fist that hammered into his stomach.

“GUFUU…”

The man who transported the powder shed blood from his mouth while he crumpled down from his knees.

“Wha…!”

The man who drew the sword trembled in fear at the display of speed and ability.

Even though that man suddenly appeared and shouted something incomprehensible, he still understood that the man’s existence was one far stronger than him which caused him to tense up.

While having drawn his sword, the man was going to jump outside through a nearby window.

「Ｍｏｏｎｌｉｇｈｔ・Ｓｔｒｉｋｅ！」

However, the man in the helmet was faster.

Much in the same way as before, he moved towards the man before him, and this time, he drove in a precise blow with his fist right into the man’s face.

“GUHEE….”

The man’s nose caved in, and a fountain of blood sprayed out.

The man fell to one knee while holding his nose.

And then, with a face mixed with despair and perplexity, he looked up at the man in the helmet.

When he looked, he saw the man in the helmet still had his fist grasped tightly.

“Alright, I get it, I’m in the wrong, because I’m wrong….”

“Finishing blow! 「Ｍｏｏｎｌｉｇｈｔ・Ｓｅｒｅｎａａａａａａａｄｅ！」”

A tremendous uppercut blasted through the man’s chin.

While the man was bent backward, he was blown away, and after making a thunderous sound, he became concerned about the pile of product on the floor.

“Judgment!”

While the man in the helmet took a moment to pose, several seconds passed.

After confirming that there were no other sounds coming from nearby, he quickly began to move.

Heading towards the bag in front of him which held the white powder.

The contents were removed and thrown onto the ground.

“Such things exist… only to corrupt the people…!”

When the man muttered those words, a flame shot out of his hand.

The flames burned the powder completely, and in just a moment it all turned to ash.

Right now, there was no one moving.

The wicked were destroyed, and the ringleader who would’ve spread the evil was eliminated.

Satisfied with his judgment, the man cries “Touu!” and leapt out of the skylight towards the outside of the warehouse.

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The man who wears a mask ran.

Running at nighttime through the unattended town.

From roof to roof, with the moon at his back.

He ran at an amazing speed.

The man was in a certain nook of the town.

Having been involved with the development of the town, when he reached a small vacant lot, he headed towards the ground.

It was a vacant lot with nothing on it.

Even if it was just a bit wider, it would still probably be difficult to build a house on it.

However, in such a small vacant lot, it is considerably hard to see within, and only a single rope rose up out of it.

When the man approached the rope, he pulled on it with a simple jerk.

Then, an amazing thing happened!

From a small corner of the lot, there was a sound of something opening with a *bokori*, and what appeared was a staircase that continued to the underground.

It was not a vacant lot here.

It was a secret base!

The man looked around, and while confirming that no one was watching, he took light steps down the stairway as the entrance closed behind him.

And the vacant lot changed back to the vacant lot it was before.

The man descended the stairs quietly.

There wasn’t any light on the dark staircase, but having come and gone many times, he arrived at the deepest part without stumbling even once.

Then the man raised his index finger.

A small flame danced on the fingertip of the man, and the inside of the room was faintly illuminated.

On the table, there was a closet.

A sword, armor, magic tool, and scroll were in it.

Preserved foods and drinking water were as well.

While it was simple in design, it could certainly be called adequate for being the interior of a secret base.

The man moved towards the entrance and transferred the flame from his finger to the candle nearby and walked towards the closet.

With that, he removed his helmet.

What came out from inside was green-colored hair.

While there were still childish features remaining, the man is endowed with more than enough to qualify as an adult. He is at such an age after all.

“Fuu~”

As the man exhaled a sigh of relief, he opened the closet and began to change.

After taking off the clothes which are black in color from top to bottom, from the closet he takes out his original clothes and changes into them. With that, there was no longer the appearance of the previous individual remaining. There was just the appearance of a townsperson which could be found anywhere.

After he confirmed his appearance in the mirror, he left the secret base.

After coming out of the vacant lot, he walked slowly as if it was a lie that he was just running hurriedly only moments ago.

He wandered and loitered here and there like an old man, but after a few minutes, he arrived at a certain place.

A section in the residential area.

The general residents who live in the Magic City Sharia are not particularly afraid, but without having business, there is rarely a time when they will approach a certain house.

Closely bound ivy wreathed itself around the fence of that house.

If seen during daytime, there are flowers that bloom on the ivy, and it gives off the impression of being fashionably chic.

However, when you look at night, in a single word, it is ‘eerie.’

A man approaches the gate opening it and enters silently.

There is no one on the other side.

Does the man even question it? After gently stroking the ivy which was coiled around the gate, he entered the location.

A key is taken out from a pocket, and with as little a sound as possible being made, the key opens up the entryway to the house.

Qui~et~ly, the door was opened, and qui~et~ly, the door was closed.

No footfalls were made as he qui~et~ly he entered inside, and nearby the entrance was a staircase where he qui~et~ly decided to head upwards to the second floor.

“Welcome home.”

Then, a voice called out, sending a shiver up the man’s body.

“I-I’m home.”

When the man looked back, there was a woman with white hair there.

A woman who still seemed young looking, and to be truthful, it was his mother.

“Zeke, what have you been doing until such a late hour?”

Zeke.

What a thing to say!

The man of green hair. It happened to be Zeke!

What an unbelievable thing, the knight of the silver moon which shines in the darkness “Moon Knight”’s real identity, was none other than Zieghardt Saladin Greyrat!

“Ah, yeah. White Mama as well, why are you also up this late?”

“It’s a coincidence. I woke up just a little while ago.”

She had a scowl on when she approached where Zeke was frozen stiff at.

“…Fighting?”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Here on your neck, there seems to be some blood there.”

Zeke, in a panic, presses down on that part of his neck.

When he can see what is visible on his fingertips, certainly there is some dark red filth there.

It was probably a spurt of blood from before when he beat the drug trafficker.

“Well, I think this is something else. I’m pretty sure it was from a slight nosebleed I had on the way…”

“Haa… Because your papa doesn’t make a fuss about it, I also won’t nag you either, however, please don’t make me worry about you so much, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

After Zeke apologized, he ascended the stairs as if he were escaping.

“Really… He keeps changing from working to not doing anything…”

That mother, while watching Zeke’s back, sighed deeply.

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Zeke Saladin Greyrat

The second son of the Greyrat family, and an unemployed man.

However, for his occupation: being jobless was just an alias.

His true form was the Ally of Justice!

The knight of the silver moon which shines in the darkness, the Moon Knight!

While he puts on a display as an idler in the daytime, he gathers information in the bars and adventurer’s guild.

Then, on the basis of getting a sense of evil from the information acquired, he will act.

In the middle of the night, he secretly defeats evil.

After having graduated from Asura Royal Academy, he had spent his daily life in such a way since then.

Without a job.