Chapter Nine: System Silence? Rudy’s Negative First Impression of Alan

Allen wore a sour expression. His "Pseudo-Immortal Body" skill had a duration of only six minutes, but it required an 800-day cooldown. Given that a year in the world of *Mushoku Tensei* is approximately 300 days, that meant over two years of waiting.

If he could level up his healing magic to the point of regenerating severed limbs, the corresponding mana consumption would also increase, further shortening the skill's duration.

Was this the system pulling a "Tryndamere ultimate" on him? Allen strongly suspected the system was messing with him. The [6] from last night was proof enough.

[How could that be?]

[The healing magic rune slot is provided by the system for the host to recover after battles. As for continuous combat, that would only be in a life-or-death situation. Given how peaceful the world of *Mushoku Tensei* is, where would you even find enough death-defying encounters to grind daily?]

[Besides, host, just think about it. If this rune could be used at will, and you later obtained Emperor-tier or God-tier healing magic runes, wouldn't that effectively make the Demon race's "Immortal Body" ability permanent? Combine that with the defense provided by Orsted’s Dragon God Aura once leveled up, and you shouldn't even call yourself Allen anymore—call yourself a cockroach. You might as well just beat the game; no one would ever be a threat to you.]

Allen spat on the ground, wiping away the system's text that had suddenly popped up to join the conversation.

"Emperor-tier magic and above requires massive mana consumption and long incantations. Since they’ve lost their practical use in real combat, nobody uses them anyway, right? I never saw anyone use God-tier healing magic in the original story. Who am I supposed to go shake hands with to get it carved into me?"

"If you have the time to pop out and explain runes to me, you’d be better off telling me how to increase my Dragon God Aura reserves. You know the current embryonic state I’m in; I can only squeeze out a few wisps of Dragon God Aura to dilute into my native battle aura just to improve its quality."

[...Con...tact Ors...]

The text flickered and distorted for a moment. Just as it was about to solidify, it dissipated into thin air.

Allen raised an eyebrow, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"System?"

No more text appeared.

Allen stood stunned for a moment, frowning as he muttered to himself.

"Ever since I encountered Roxy, the system has shown a strange sense of excitement, popping out to interact with me from time to time... This never happened before, and now it’s vanished just as inexplicably."

"If it's really like a cell phone... it’s as if it lost its signal."

"But every time my swordsmanship level or score updated, it was always timely. I’ve never encountered this 'no signal' situation before..."

"Strange."

"World rejection? Limitations on my cheat? Or maybe just bad reception? Or is it running out of memory?"

"...Not enough information to judge. However, the answer to the previous question was already given: 'Contact Orsted,' huh... Dragon God Aura is derived from the Dragon God Style, so I can infer that it wants me to learn the Dragon God Style from Orsted... It's still too early to go looking for the Dragon Boss. I should keep developing. If he decides to take me under his wing in a good mood, I don't want to be so weak that I don't even qualify to kowtow as his underling."

"As for the healing magic rune... the limit for keeping the 'Pseudo-Immortal Body' active is 6 minutes and 36 seconds, requiring an 800-day cooldown to recover the mana. Based on my experience with PvP in this world, life and death are usually decided within a few moves. In other words, allocating it as 1 minute for every 120 days, or 30 seconds of being a 'true man' every 60 days, is a reasonable distribution. Of course, this only applies to all-out, life-or-death battles."

"For normal combat, utilizing moments of respite or taunting for intermittent recovery is enough for both mana efficiency and healing effectiveness. Plus, I can feign weakness to create an information gap, intentionally leaving openings to ambush them with the North God Style or Water God Style."

"Overall, it’s a decent upgrade-style cheat. It seems I wasn't destined to be an overpowered protagonist."

Allen stopped his muttering.

Pause. Silence.

The system's text did not reappear.

He raised an eyebrow and tried probing once more.

"System?"

The system did not answer.

Allen narrowed his eyes, then looked up at the sky.

"..."

"Well then, next, I need to see Paul and convince him to take me in. To participate in the major events of *Mushoku Tensei*, blending into Paul’s family just like Roxy did is the best choice."

"I’ll find a way to gain Rudeus’s favor. That shouldn't be too hard... Detoxification runes. Although not as practical as healing runes, you can never have too many skills."

*Cling!* He sheathed his sword and continued on his way.

—

The sun sank below the horizon in Buena Village.

The evening glow painted the white walls of the Greyrat residence—the manor of the village knight—a deep red.

Much like Lilia’s face.

Her red hair was neatly tied back, with bangs framing her cheeks, looking very smooth.

Her black and white maid uniform was well-tailored. She stood behind a second-floor window, her gaze directed through her glasses at the courtyard below.

Following her gaze, in the sunset, three figures—two adults and one child—stood in the unusually spacious country courtyard.

The beautiful blonde lady and the tall, handsome, and robust master were standing with their backs to her, lecturing a child who kept his head down.

It was a harmonious scene.

If one ignored the fact that the master was using his body to shield himself from the child, while still keeping a hand on the back of the lady’s white skirt, letting it roam...

*The Master and the Lady have a very good relationship... so energetic and passionate every night... I can hear everything clearly...*

Thinking of this, Lilia subconsciously touched her own back, her eyes lowering.

In the courtyard.

"Rudeus, we clearly agreed last night that you would practice swordplay with me this afternoon to check your self-study progress. How did you end up running off and only coming back now?"

Rudeus kept his head down, his eyes awkwardly fixed on the grass on the ground, his mouth twitching as he scratched his cheek.

"Well... you see... I went to survey the terrain and study the plants, and I just got a bit carried away... Haha... *cough, cough*."

Paul narrowed his eyes at Rudeus, his hand applying a bit more pressure. Zenith, who was standing beside him and had originally intended to mediate, felt the vein on her forehead twitch. But since Rudeus was still there, she had to maintain a smile and suppress her anger, though the red flush on her face grew deeper.

The words of mediation she had prepared earlier were completely forgotten.

Paul spoke in a muffled voice.

"Rudeus, tell the truth."

Rudeus heard this and quickly straightened his posture, clutching the plant dictionary under his arm and bowing formally.

"Although I really was surveying the terrain and investigating plants, the thought that 'if I come back late, I won't have to practice with Father' did cross my mind. I am sorry!"

Paul nodded with a smile and then turned to Zenith, winking.

"Well then, wife, go make dinner. Rudeus and I have a man-to-man promise to fulfill. *Cough! Cough, cough!*"

Zenith reached out to smooth the wrinkled white skirt behind her, gave a forced smile, and elbowed Paul in return.

She then crouched down, speaking gently to Rudeus, who was staring at her skirt with the clear, innocent eyes of a child.

"It’s okay if you don't want to practice swordplay with your father next time, but you must tell us in advance. I was so worried when you didn't come back all afternoon."

"What! Rudeus is perfectly willing to practice swordplay!"

"Dear, you have no idea what's going on!"

Rudeus watched his parents—who were bickering on the surface but flirting in reality, with their four hands intertwined—and wore a look of speechless resignation.

*Hey... you hot-blooded old married couple, be mindful of the audience...*

A while later, the flirting ended. Once Zenith walked away, Paul shifted his gaze from his wife’s behind and leaned down to whisper in Rudeus's ear.

"Hey, tell me the truth. Did you go out and lift up some girl's skirt?"

*Don't project your own character onto me, Paul!*

The 34-year-old shut-in, who was roaring in his heart while putting on a childlike facade, suddenly noticed something.

It was a feeling like a venomous snake crawling over his body.

*What is this... this feeling? It’s a gaze. Someone is looking at me, and it's that kind of scrutinizing look I hated most in my previous life...*

Intuition compelled him to ignore Paul’s subsequent teasing and turn his head toward the courtyard gate not far away.

A male middle-schooler with terrifyingly long eyebrows and a sturdy build was looking at him.

No, not terrifying—he just had a pair of sharp, downward-sloping eyebrows that made him look a bit too intense. His hair was messily swept back, and he exuded a sharp aura.

Rudeus wasn't good at dealing with people who had this kind of presence.

Subconsciously, it reminded him of the school bullies who used to torment him.

The bully was stroking his chin, watching him with great interest.

Their gazes locked.

The bully raised an eyebrow, as if he had seen something interesting, and a playful smile appeared on his lips.