Jobless Reincarnation - Mushoku Tensei

Chapter 122: Norn Greyrat

Chapter 122: Norn Greyrat

Part 1

–Norn's POV–

I wonder when I started to become afraid of my brother.

At the very least, it wasn't like that at the beginning.

When I first met him, brother was hitting my father.

I loved my father.

Although he was useless in many aspects, I knew that he loved me with all of his heart.

Even if it wasn't like that, as a five year old child, he was a father that I loved without a doubt.

My brother punched that kind of father.

Appearing all of a sudden, and then punching my father.

I didn't understand the conversation at that time.

Even though I now understand that my brother had a lot of hardships before he finally met with father,

I also knew father made a fool of him and got into a fight with him.

These things were unrelated to me at that time.

My brother hit my father.

When I saw him on top of father pummeling him,

I thought that my father would be killed.

Then, I came to a conclusion. The one and only truth for me at that time.

This person, I could not recognize him as family.

It wasn't from fear.

It was from hatred.

The feelings of hatred continued long after.

Because everybody was praising my brother.

Naturally from father, and then from my little sister and the maid that I met after as well.

The more they praised my brother, the bigger that stubborn part in me grew.

Like my brother, I hated my little sister.

At the school that we went to, she was my rival in everything.

Be it studying or physical exercises.

And then, excelling in everything, she looked down on me.

I had thought that we will never get along.

I was tormented by my inferiority complex.

The one who didn't approve of this was my grandmother.

At the same time that she was despising my non-blood-related little sister, she held excessive expectations for me.

No, perhaps it wasn't expectations.

It was just what my grandmother said.

"As a lady from the House of Latreia, you must possess talent that won't shame us."

And then I was forced to study etiquette and detailed ceremonies.

I wasn't able to do them well, and each time I failed, she got angry.

Each time, my grandmother would say:

"If you become enthralled by an adventurer, you will muddy our blood."

I knew immediately that she was talking about my father and mother.

My grandmother despised my father who worked with all of his might.

I then hated my grandmother.

That's why, when a person calling herself my brother's Shisho came and and revealed my mother's whereabouts, rather than stay with grandmother I decided to follow my father.

Yes. My father was at a loss.

He wondered if he should leave me with my grandparents.

My mother inherited the blood of Milis nobles, and my father descended directly from Asura nobles.

There were no problems with my lineage.

My grandparents seemed to have wanted to welcome me into their household.

But, I hated that.

That's why I begged father, I clung to him in tears and followed him.

And yet.

And yet, my father sent me away to my brother's place.

He said that it would be dangerous from here on.

He said that my brother had prepared a base up north, so I should wait for him there.

He said that once he finds my mother, he will definitely catch up later.

I cried.

I said I hated it. I cried that I wanted to be where my mother was.

I thought that I must not separate from my father no matter what.

If Ruijerd-san hadn't appeared there, I might have been together with my father.

And then, I would have gotten sick at the Begaritto Continent, and become an inconvenience for my father.

Ruijerd-san.

I remember him quite well.

The first time I met him, was on the same day I met my brother.

He gave a helping hand to me who looked like I was about to collapse.

He patted my head with gentle hands.

He gave me an apple.

At that time, I didn't know his name.

After learning that he was a guard for my brother, I didn't ask for his name.

Nothing about him changed since that time, he patted my head, and persuaded me gently.

And thus, it became that I headed towards my brother's place.

When we began our trip, my little sister was in excessively high spirits.

She threw off her the mask that she never took off in front of father and her mother, and took on the mask of a leader, then made unreasonable plans one after another.

She was doing foolish things was what I thought.

That there's no meaning being this enthusiastic when there were two grown-ups here.

That's what I had thought.

But, Ruijerd-san and Ginger-san, obeyed my little sister.

I thought it was unfair.

They went along with my little sister's demands, yet they don't go with what I say.

However, since Ruijerd-san was attentive towards me, I was able to bear it.

He was always watching over me.

But, even he was praising my brother.

Saying that he was an amazing person.

That he was looking forward to seeing him.

Even though he rarely smiled, he was saying that while smiling.

I was sure that my brother that I knew, and my brother that he knows were different.

That's what I had thought.

Ahh.

That being the case, it must've been during this time.

I started to become afraid of my brother.

My brother is strong.

Everybody says that he was a person to be respected.

However, the brother within my heart, was a brother who hit and beat down my father. Visit for the best novel reading experience

Perhaps.

And maybe perhaps.

Would my brother also hit me as well?

If I said something that he couldn't stomach, would I get hit?

I became afraid of meeting him.

To be living under him for who knows how long made me afraid.

I was anxious and couldn't sleep, and I woke up in the middle of the night many times.

Each time, Ruijerd-san would console me.

He would place me on his lap, then he would tell me stories from the past while looking at the night sky.

There were many sad stories, but for some reason I was able to relax and sleep peacefully.

—

Part 2

When we finally met again, my brother was drunk and had a woman beside him.

That person was a childhood friend of his from Buina Village, and he had married her.

I did not remember this person at all.

Though I remember vaguely that there was a person that stuck close to my little sister and her mother.

I had thought that she wasn't that type of person.

I thought that she would be something else. I felt that something was different.

My brother seemed happy.

When I saw that, my feelings of hatred began to well up within me.

My father did not lay his hands on any woman.

He said he was postponing that until he found my mother.

He never laid hands on my little sister's mother, nor did he lay hands on that woman who was always with him.

And yet.

And yet, my brother was a hypocrite.

I was filled with hatred.

But, I couldn't say anything.

Because I was afraid.

If, I said something, I thought I would get hit.

If my brother hit me, Ruijerd-san might have gotten angry.

When Ruijerd-san met my brother he seemed very happy.

Perhaps, he wouldn't get angry at all.

Perhaps instead he would get angry at me.

That he would tell me not to be selfish.

I couldn't say anything.

And then, that next day, Ruijerd-san left.

I thought that he would be with us forever.

I had thought that I didn't want him to disappear.

But, he left.

I became even more afraid.

In the house, my brother, my little sister, my brother's wife were there.

My little sister was in high spirits meeting my brother.

I thought that my brother's wife was a gentle person.

But, she was not my ally.

In this house, I had no allies.

Until my father came back, I had no choice but to live here in fear.

Maybe my brother was not a person that I had first imagined him to be.

That day, the day when my brother hit my father.

I was very young.

After that, no matter how many times my father said, "Your brother also had it tough," I was unable to understand.

But right now, especially right now, I was able to understand a little of how he felt.

Because, right now, it's painful.

Being here, doing my best, doing things to my utmost effort.

Being full of energy, and then being told, [You were just playing around without a care, right?]

Even I would have become angry.

Even if it was my father, we would have gotten into a fight.

But, that being the case.

What kind of face should I show to my brother?

What did my brother want me to do?

How did my brother and my father make up?

Think.

Think.

My stomach was in pain.

As if the area below my chest was squeezing tightly.

I became nauseous.

I passed the time curled in bed.

I couldn't do anything.

Just merely facing my brother, I couldn't do it.

In times like these, it was always my father that came to the rescue.

Whenever I curled in bed from hateful things, my father would come and gently comfort me.

When I separated from my father, it was Ruijerd.

He would place me on his lap, and while patting my head, he would talk about various things.

Here, I have nobody.

Melissa-senpai had helped me a lot.

However, she's not an ally.

[Let's go see your brother], or [You should show up in class.]

She was saying those things.

I understand them.

But my body refuses to move.

—

Part 5

I wonder how long it has been since I became troubled.

Thinking, getting tired, then sleeping.

While repeating these actions, it felt like many days have passed.

I sat at the end of the bed.

When I realized, I saw my brother in front of me.

He sat on a chair, his elbows on the backrest.

Then he looked fixedly at me.

"Norn."

"Brother."

For the first time, it felt like I called my brother "Brother".

Many things came into my head.

This didn't seem like an illusion.

This is the girl's dormitory.

Why is he here?

I was confused.

My brother was fixing his gaze at me who was confused.

We looked at each other for a while.

Like this, it may have been the first time I truly looked at my brother's face.

It was a face of anxiety.

It looked a lot like my father.

A face that gave me a peace of mind.

Of course, since they're father and son.

"Norn. I'm sorry. It's been painful ever since you came here, right?"

My brother opened his mouth quietly.

"I, didn't know what you were going through. Even though things became like this, I don't know what to do."

My brother was saying these things with an uneasy face.

A figure that looked exactly like my father.

"..."

And since then, my brother did not move at all.

He looked at me uneasily.

But, he never moved from his seat.

If it was my father, he would hug me without restraint,

And if it was Ruijerd-san, I would likely be patted on the head.

However, my brother does not approach me.

"Ah..."

For some reason.

I understood.

He couldn't approach me.

He was scared of being rejected by me.

When I thought that, the feelings inside me mysteriously cleared up.

The feelings of hatred and fear towards my brother never gushed forth.

I no longer felt afraid.

My brother was just like my father.

My brother, would definitely not hit me.

And surely, he would never again hit my father.

"...Uuu..."

I have to forgive my brother.

"U...hic..."

Before I realized, tears were welling up and dropping

My throat trembled, and I began to cry.

"I'm sorry, brother...I'm sorry."

My brother timidly came up and sat next to me.

Then, gently, he placed his hand on top of my head, then hugged me close.

My brother's hand was warm, and his chest was big and tough.

And, he smelled just like my father.

On that day, I cried in my brother's arms all through the night.

— Rudeus's POV —

In the end, I couldn't do anything.

She wouldn't say anything to me.

What she was unsatisfied about, or what she was troubled by.

I did not understand her true feelings.

Norn just kept crying.

When she finished crying, she just silently said "I'm fine now".

Her face seemed refreshed contrary to what I imagined.

She looked into my eyes.

Deeply and directly.

When I saw that, I felt relieved somehow.

I thought that everything will be fine.

That's why I left Sylphy to take care of the rest, and left the room.

—

Part 6

The next day, Norn became cheerful again.

It wasn't a noticeable change.

When she sees me in the hallway, she'll at least say, [Brother, good morning.]

She doesn't converse much, nor does she carelessly cling onto me.

Compared to me, who hasn't changed one bit in this situation, it seems that Norn no longer minded that at all.

I couldn't understand her.

I couldn't say anything, and couldn't do anything.

It was disappointing.

I had thought that I could understand the feelings of a shut-in or a person that couldn't do anything.

But when facing the real thing, I became like this.

Probably,

And just probably,

Norn had probably sorted out her own feelings.

And from sorting her own feelings, she overcame this situation.

She's an amazing girl.

Paul and Aisha might have thought that Norn wasn't particularly good at doing anything.

However, I didn't think that.

At the very least, in my past life, she did something I wasn't able to do.

If, in my past life, I was able to sort out my feelings like Norn,

Would things have changed?

Would I have been able to avoid that future where my gentle elder brother hit me?

I don't know.

I don't know about events in the past.

It's different than the situation between me and Norn.

Even if I did sort out my feelings, I don't know if I could have headed outside.

Reincarnating to a different world, if I hadn't met Roxy, I would surely have remained a shut-in.

In the first place, I can't go back after all this time.

The past won't change.

My soured relationship with that family won't go back to normal.

My elder brother's intentions will remain lost in the dark.

...However, it felt that something that prevented me from speaking clearly has been taken away.

If, Nanahoshi ever manages to go back to our original world,

At that time, I wish to send my older brother a message.

Thank you for worrying about me at the time, and I am very sorry.