Mushoku Tensei II – 23 – His Father’s Son

Rudy is understandably a mess after losing his left hand, his father, and his mother as he knew her. He’s holed up in his room and looks much the worse for wear, neither eating nor sleeping and racked with guilt and impostor syndrome. Why did Paul shield him, when he believes Norn, Aisha, Lilia and Zenith deserved it more?

Roxy comes to his room to invite him to explore Rapan more before they depart, but when he refuses, she locks the door and stays with him. She speaks of the pain of losing someone close while adventuring, considered Paul and Zenith a second family, and offers to stay with Rudy that night and comfort him; he can leave everything to her.

He does, and wakes up the next morning with a naked Roxy sleeping beside him. Her goal was to make him feel a little better by sharing the burden of the pain he felt, Rudy does feel a little better.

It gets his mind off his past life, when he neither honored nor mourned his parents. When he asks his Master what he should do next, Roxy’s answer is clear and direct: look forward, and treasure the family you still have, who are waiting for him.

Thanks to Roxy, Rudy is able to get out of his own head and realize he hasn’t been pulling his weight since Zenith was rescued. He apologizes to Lilia for this, but Lilia isn’t mad; it’s her duty to care for Zenith, who allowed her to stay in her home after her and Paul’s indiscretion, after all.

Zenith’s contact with the crystal didn’t affect her physically, but it did wipe all her mana and memories, a condition that may be irreversible. Lilia, who loved both Paul and Zenith, vows to take care of her in Paul’s stead. When Rudy declares he’ll help to, Lilia politely reminds him that this is her duty, and that he should tend to his own duty. Paul would have told him the same.

The party starts the trek back to the teleport circle and home, and during the trip Roxy is a lot more lovey-dovey. When Rudy comes out and tells her he’s married with a kid on the way, she’s not surprised, because Lize and Geese already told her.

While they insisted Rudy would be okay after Paul’s death and weren’t going to do anything, Roxy knew differently. She remembered how Rudy could be from their time in Buena, and then fell in love with him at first sight when he rescued her.

She knew he had a wife back home who would have surely comforted him in his time of grief. But his wife wasn’t there. She was. She doesn’t pretend what she did was moral or selfless; in fact she argues the opposite. But she doesn’t regret what she did, because she was the only one who could do it.

Kohara Konomi is so, so good voicing Roxy in this touching scene, and throughout the episode. Even if we condemn her for taking advantage of Rudy, whom she loved, it’s likely he’d still be wasting away in his room if she’d done nothing. Since she’s unaware that Rudy loves her too, she neither expects nor asks for anything in return other than hearing her excuse.

When they reach and use the teleportation circle that returns them to Sharia, Rudy takes the first night’s watch with Lize. Lize precedes a request by explaining how neither he nor Sylphie are followers of Millis, and thus are not limited to marrying one person. Lize also makes clear that while she’s now happily monogamous with Cliff, she sees no problem with loving two people the same amount.

To this end, she tells Rudy of Roxy’s suffering, standing aside despite loving him so deeply, and asks him to marry her. Lize suspects Rudy loves both women, and he does, differently yet equally. She also tells him that while she did cry at first, Zenith wasn’t miserable after Paul married Lilia. She also tells him he’s Paul’s son, so she knows he can do this.

Lize summons Roxy to speak to Rudy, and after stumbling with his words, Rudy goes what he believes to be “Full Dirtbag,” telling Roxy he loves her and asking if he’ll marry him and take the name Greyrat. Rather than quickly saying yes, Roxy does the practical thing, asking him to ask her again once he secures his first wife’s approval, which he’ll need in order to take a second.

I did not expect things to move this quickly between Rudy and Roxy, even though I suspected something would go down eventualy. It’s super messy (and bound to get messier), but also feels true to these characters, who have never felt more flawed and real.

Roxy is honest in everything she says and does here except when it comes to stepping aside and denying her own happiness simply due to bad timing. In turn, Rudy is able to be honest and request something he would never think of doing back in modern Japan, while proving he’s Paul Greyrat’s son and Paul Greyrat was his father.

Mushoku Tensei II – 22 – Flail Hydra

Thanks to the addition of Rudy, Paul’s party is able to reach the final level of the labyrinth where the guardian dwells: a mammoth, many-headed hydra. Behind it is Zenith, encased in crystal. Paul can’t keep his cool, and rushes in, but Rudy and Roxy’s ranged magic bounces right off the hydra’s scales, Lize is injured, and the heads Paul lops off soon grow back.

The party retreats through the teleportation circle used to get to the boss, and Paul isn’t happy. He grabs Rudy by the scruff and can’t understand why he’s so calm. Rudy simply says losing his temper won’t help matters. The party members sit in a circle and discuss things. Roxy believes the boss to be a manatite hydra; magic will only work at close range.

So be it. The party returns to the hydra, and while Paul hacks at the heads with Lize and Talhand, Rudy draws much closer and uses flames to burn the stumps, hoping the Greek legend paves the way to victory. Sure enough, once the stump is burned the heads won’t regenerate, but they have to be vigilant that the hydra doesn’t bite its own neck below the burned part in order to regain its lost heads.

It’s a brutal, kinetic battle; one of the best Mushoku Tensei has animated, and it’s an absolute barn-burning thrill ride. Rudy has to draw far closer than he’s used to to the target for his magic to be effective, and at one point he’s a sitting duck for the hydra when Paul kicks him out of the way and takes the blow in his place. Eventually, the last head is chopped off, and Roxy does the honor of burning it, resulting in the body of the headless hydra falling to the ground.

It’s a victory, but a costly one. Paul is dead, using his last moments to smile as Rudy stands nearby. Rudy’s left arm was ripped off, and while he’s able to use Shining Magic to close the wound, regrowing that hand is either impossible or extremely difficult, and in any case beyond his current means. More pressingly, he rescued his mother at the cost of losing his father. It’s not so much a victory as a trade.

The return trip to Rapan is understandably a somber one, as the party walks without saying a word to each other. Even though it’s clear Roxy wants to say something to comfort Rudy, she remains tight-lipped. As the credits roll, Lilia welcomes the party back and is delighted beyond believe for her lady Zenith to be back. It’s only when she asks where Paul is that her expression changes to one of excruciating grief. It’s a heartbreaking tour-de-force of showing, not telling.

What did Paul and Rudy’s left hand buy them? His mother is alive and after four days she wakes, but she seems to have lost the her ability to speak. It’s also arguable whether she recognizes her firstborn son, on whom she hasn’t laid eyes in over a decade.

But it has to be enough. Rudy may be an extremely powerful mage, and may even get his left hand back, but he can’t turn back time or bring Paul back.  He simply has to be content with the fact that one of his parents still lives, and neither she nor Rudy would be alive without Paul’s sacrifice. But for one brief and fleeting moment, the Greyrat family was fully accounted for.

RABUJOI WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Mushoku Tensei II – 21 – Two Swords

Upon finding and embracing his former master Roxy Migurdia, Rudy is suddenly shocked to the point of having to vomit, because Roxy says it’s “nice to meet” him, and asks him his name. But later while they’re exiting the Labyrinth, she clarifies that she does remember cute little Rudy, not the tall, strapping lad before her.

After she rests and regains her mana, Rudy paces around her as she studies the teleportation book, so she asks him to help her out with certain sections. Throughout this, Rudy is an eager-to-please Golden Retriever that kind of throws Roxy off. That said, their deep-seated rapport soon returns because it never left, like riding a bicycle.

As the party returns to the Labyrinth and Roxy and Rudy work together to support the front line of Lize and Paul, Roxy asks if Rudy will take on another Labyrinth with her, just the two of them, after they retrieve Zenith. Rudy agrees without thinking, as his goal was to return to Sylphie and his unborn child as soon as possible.

Rudy also doesn’t mention that he’s now married to Sylphie and that he’s about to become a father; perhaps it never came up, even during his and Roxy’s Rapan shopping trip in the three days before their next Labyrinth journey. Instead, over drinks Roxy reiterates how grateful she is to Paul and Zenith for hiring her, and how instructing Rudy helped her overcome what was holding her back from becoming a King-level mage.

Rudy and Roxy’s reunion is a gentle and affable one; thankfully they don’t drink too much and end up in an awkward position. But it’s clear from all of Roxy’s little expressions and glances that she likes this new bigger, more adult Rudy. Paul notices it too and is about to tell Rudy about it, but with Roxy in earshot, he instead simply tells Rudy that he himself has gotten used to “two swords”, each one having it’s own role.

The “swords” he refers to, of course, aren’t just the ones on his belt, but Zenith and Lilia. While the particulars probably vary by continent or nation, it’s a good bet that having multiple wives or husbands isn’t a taboo in this world. Naturally, Rudy remains oblivious to Paul’s hints as well as Roxy’s shifting feelings, but that’s unlikely to remain the case as they progress together through the Labyrinth’s strata.

Mushoku Tensei II – 20 – A New Hope

Rudy and Lize run into a bit of luck when Geese is right there in the guild hall. From there, the episode wastes no time reuniting Rudy with his dad, Paul, and it’s everything I was hoping for. While things didn’t go so swell the last time they met, the current situation with Zenith and a mutual desire to make up results in a simple, poignant hug between the father and son. It’s in this hug that Rudy realizes just how much Paul loves him, and how simply being there makes all the difference in the world.

Rudy astonishes Paul not just with his stature, but the maturity, confidence, and reliability inherent in his words. Paul also does a weary Lize a solid by taking a knee and offering a simple but much appreciated apology for what went down. When Rudy learns Roxy fell into a teleport trap in the Labyrinth a month ago and is still missing, the world threatens to fade away to white, but Lize brings him back with a hand on his shoulder. They’ll proceed under the assumption that Roxy, like Zenith, is alive and in need of rescue.

That night, Rudy shares the same room with Paul and Lilia, and it gives Paul no shortage of joy simply watching his son converse with Lilia. Rudy tells them that not only did Sylphie from Buena make it, but they’re married with a kid on the way, Paul wants the details, much to Lilia’s exasperation (especially when he insinuates that she’s actually a tiger in the sack).

The next day, Rudy and Lize join Paul, Geese and the dwarven warrior Talhand to form a party to enter the Labyrinth, now armed with the tome Rudy brought from the university that serves as an extremely useful and time-saving map.

Paul is very aware that this is the first time he’s adventuring with his son in a party, and at least on the first stratum tries to show off how cool he is (something Rudy is already aware of.) There’s also some excellent banter between Lize and Paul that shows how due to their long history they’re essentially family.

The party makes its way through the first and second strata and prepare to teleport to the third, but Rudy hears a drop of water fall from a stalactite and senses … something behind a nearby rock wall. Sure enough, Roxy is somewhere beyond that wall, fighting off massive hordes of monsters but about to run completely out of mana.

When her last earth barrier is breached and she loses her staff, all she can do is back against the wall and recoil in her imminent and terrible demise. It goes without saying that the tremendous talent of Kohara Konomi is on full display here, both when she’s confidently zapping off spells to when her voice starts to break and panic sets in.

While I truly wish we didn’t have to see her wetting herself (which flashed me back to the Linia and Pursena incident Rudy shouldn’t be proud of) the bottom line is that when she’s at her absolute limit and calls out to be saved, Rudy saves her, with an ocean of ice at the last possible moment. It’s such an elegant and beautiful scene, devoid of music, with only Roxy’s breath, the wind, the frigid crinkling of ice, and Rudy’s footsteps forming the soundtrack.

When he appears before her and smiles and we see her face blush with relief and surprise, it’s a perfect cap to the episode, and also exactly how she described to Lize back in the first season how she wanted to meet her future husband. Zenith is still in grave danger, but Roxy is now safe. Rudy, with Lize by his side, has come in and given hope to the hopeless.

Mushoku Tensei II – 19 – Into the Sandbox

After Rudy tells Elinalise he has to go after all, she decides to accompany him. When he tells Shizuka, she shows him the secret locations of teleportation circles that could get him and Lize to Begaritt and back well before Sylphie gives birth.

Knowledge of this shortcut doesn’t make his goodbyes to Sylphie any easier, and while she puts on a brave face and assures him she’ll be fine, her trembling hands and tears upon watching him departing show that it will be rough, even with Aisha and Norn looking after her.

Cliff also promises to marry Lize and buy a house with her upon her return, proving she’s not just a youthful indiscretion to him.

Once Rudy and Lize depart from Sharia, it becomes a grand adventure outing in the best traditions of Mushoku Tensei. In a deep, foreboding forest they find a stone that, once unsealed, reveals the entrance to a dungeon that contains the teleportation circle.

They step through it together and end up on the other side. Lize tests to make sure they can return, and is gone a worryingly long time, indicating there’s a time lag. On the surface, a harsh desert environment awaits them, seething with heat bands.

On this journey Lize brought the chastity belt that reduces the effects of her sex curse, but it’s a backed-up Rudy who has a momentary breach of discretion. He’s able to resist Lize, but outside he finds a beautiful woman and walks toward her.

Of course, it isn’t a woman, but a succubus, and Rudy would have been dead meat if it weren’t for Lize’s quick thinking and quicker dispatch of said succubus. Afterwards, Rudy is still suffering the effects of the monster’s pheromones, and bonks him on the head, later teasing him for suggesting they “get dirty” while in his delirium.

Days consist of trudging through the seemingly endless sands, encountering strange new creatures and monsters, and eventually come upon an oasis with a bazaar and good food. When Rudy uses his stone conjuring to convey them to the top of a cliff, they encounter two ferocious gryphons, and demonstrate excellent teamwork in defeating them.

That night while dining on roast gryphon chops, Lize licks her fingers and is scolded by Rudy in a way that reminds her of Zenith, who was also sixteen when she first met her. Rudy mentions that Paul wanted to apologize to Lize; he stops short of asking her to tell him the sordid love drama that resulted in Lize to this day vowing she’d never forgive Paul.

By the end of the episode they’ve arrived at the town of Rapan, which is dramatically situated beneath the soaring ribcage of some ancient colossal critter (and also reminds me of Eren’s final Titan form). Within Rapan is the Labyrinth where he hopes to find Paul and Zenith.

As for this episode, it was some really solid adventurer slice-of-life in the desert, immersive world-building, and showed us just how much Rudy and Lize’s relationship has matured—all succubus-related bouts of horniness aside.

Mushoku Tensei II – 18 – Weighing Regrets

When he was a hopeless shut-in in Japan, Rudy probably felt that whatever else, at least he had nothing to lose. Now he has everything. He has a proper family and has found happiness. He’s made up with Norn and helps her study, and she agrees to help him with a chronicle of the Superd based on the stories Ruijerd told her.

He makes sure to spend time with Aisha too, and learns she could be a shrewd merchant if she chose to. Cliff is steadily working to ease Elinalise’s cuse. Zanoba’s figure carving has improved and now Ginger has joined him and Julie to form a found family. He continues to assist Shizuka and she makes progress. Then he comes home from his morning training to learn that Sylphie is expecting.

Rudy is overwhelmed by the news. As Sylphie says, he’s always wanted kids, and it must give her no shortage of joy to be the one to make that happen. His sisters are also congratulatory. Arrangements are made for Sylphie to get significant maternity leave from Ariel’s service, with Elise filling in as bodyguard.

At this point in Rudy’s story, there are no issues, except for the fact that they have not yet reunited with Zenith, Paul and Linia. He may have a family here and a child on the way, but the family will never quite feel complete without those three. Without them, Rudy wouldn’t be the happy, fulfilled man he now is, reveling in the routine of daily life and a routine happiness he never thought possible.

But this episode is called “Turning Point”, and so some shit had to hit the fan eventually. Mercifully, that turning point comes not due to Rudy losing anything (or anyone), but by the arrival of a letter. Rudy has had shit luck with letters (see Eris’) but this one isn’t so much devastating as it is foreboding. It’s a brief letter, written by Geese, declaring simply that Zenith’s rescue has grown “difficult” and urging him to “send help.”

The letter creates the titular turning point. As our wriggly naked Hitogami makes clear to a Rudy who is still dense about a few things regarding life, You Can’t Have It All. You can’t live a live completely free from regrets. The Man-God told him if he went to Begaritt he’d regret it, but now it’s evident that he’ll regret not going too. He must weigh his regrets to determine what to do, knowing an ideal situation is impossible.

If he goes, he will without doubt miss the birth of Sylphie’s and his first child, along with those key early developments. If he doesn’t go, Zenith’s rescue may fail and he and his sisters may never see her or Paul again. Nobody can make this choice but him, but as Rudy deliberates he gets support from all around him.

Elinalise offers to go in his place. Not only would this mean someone else would have to fill in as Ariel’s bodyguard, but for her it would be an excuse to break up with Cliff, whom she believes has the makings of a future Pope and thus feels she’s beneath him and a “youthful indiscretion.” No doubt this would break Cliff’s heart.

Zanoba promises to protect Rudy’s family should he go. Rinia, Pursena, and Luke would likely do the same if asked, but we don’t see him mention this to them. Sylphie tells him not to worry about her and do what he must. Eventually, Rudy decides that he can’t leave the family he’s made and is making to save the one that raised him. He believes he’ll regret leaving them more than he’ll regret not going.

Then, one morning after training, Rudy is resting on the porch when Norn steps out the door loaded down with adventurer’s gear, ready for a journey. She takes a couple of steps, rolls her ankle, and spills to the ground, all of her supplies spilling to the ground. When Rudy asks her why, Norn breaks into tears and tells him if he won’t go save Mom and Dad, she’ll have to.

But she can’t. No more than Zanoba can leave Julie and Ginger, or Elinalise can leave Cliff, Norn simply can’t got to Begaritt. She’d never make it. But Rudy can. He realizes this, and decides then and there that he’ll go. He helps Norn up and gathers her into a hug, telling her to look after Sylphie and not to fight with her sister while he’s gone.

It’s a choice Rudy makes that ensures he’ll have regrets, but he’s resigned to that fact. In order to achieve his ideal of having everyone around the table of his home eating, drinking, and laughing, he must leave the comfortable happy home he’s made and endure struggles and hardship. It’s a choice that demonstrates Rudeus Greyrat’s continued growth into an increasingly decent human being.

Mushoku Tensei II – 08 – Love Is in the Air

Rudy finds himself on better terms with Rinia and Pursena now that they consider him their alpha, but he has to apologize for the three of them when Cliff Grimoire complains about the noise they make goofing off in class. Later, Rudy catches Cliff being beaten up by six fellow students, who immediately flee when Quagmire shows up.

Cliff’s deal is that he’s got the hots for Elinalise, and he got into the fight by protecting her honor. Rudy happens to know that Elinalise is indeed guilty of all of the rumors about her sleeping around—at least as guilty as someone suffering from a curse can be, at least. Even so, Cliff has it bad, and wants an introduction.

Rudy confers with—who else—Fitz on this, and it actually gives Sylphie an opportunity to say that she likes “someone”, even though she still won’t come out and tell him who. She believes it’s fine to introduce them, and everything that happens from then on isn’t Rudy’s problem.

Rudy follows Fitz’s advice, but when he introduces Elinalise to Cliff, she snatches Rudy up for a quick sidebar. If she believes her curse won’t allow her to be monogamous, than Rudy tells her she should reject Cliff. But the next day, he finds that Cliff and Elinalise have become a couple. She’s determined to behave herself, while he’s determined to lift her curse.

Elinalise isn’t the only one with suitors. Rinia and Pursena have many dozens of suitors, but as they have appointed Rudy their “boss”, he stands in for their parents as the arbitor of who is worthy of their hand in marriage. The first such suitor to challenge Rudy is immediately defeated.

The next one…is a little trickier. For one thing, he’s immense, and gray with flowing purple hair, and sports no less than six arms (though two are seemingly always flexing). This is none other than Demon King Badigadi, Kishirisu Kishirika’s fiancé. He’s heard good things about Rudy, and wants to fight him.

Fitz brings Rudy his staff, and Rudy asks if Badigadi will spare his life if he wins. It hasn’t been long since the “Dragon God” almost killed him, after all. Badigadi also seems to know of the Man-God, but doesn’t know anything about him. The Demon King agrees to accept defeat if Rudy can wound him with a single blow.

Rudy conjures the sharpest, fastest-spinning drill bit his mana can create, and it does the trick: when the smoke clears, Badigadi is a fraction of the size he was and missing a couple of arms. He heals himself, but accepts defeat, which means Rinia and Pursena don’t have to worry about any suitors.

Badigadi doesn’t leave without planting his own blow on Rudy, resulting in a comically swollen cheek that Fitz easily heals before leaving Rudy to rest. The next day in class, Rinia and Pursena are grateful. But who should arrive in class as an (apparent) new transfer student but Badigadi and his bawdy laugh. Unfortunately the needle doesn’t move on Rudy learning who Fitz is, but he’s certainly building up a reputation as the strongest student at Ranoa.

Mushoku Tensei II – 05 – It Is Happening Again

While journeying to Ranoa Magic University, Rudy learns that Elinalise has pretty much the opposite curse as him: she must fuck or die; he can’t fuck and must live. But no sooner does he arrive than he’s thrown into a mock trial with one of the school’s other silent-incanting special students: Silent Fitz.

Of course, Fitz is Sylphie, but due to her clothes, shades, and white hair, plus the fact she’s years older than when he last saw her, Rudy doesn’t recognize her, and once again mistakes her for a man. This is…unfortunate, to say the least, and hopefully it’s a misunderstanding that’s cleared up soon.

When Rudy sees Fitz’s attack with his right eye before it happens, he uses Disturb magic to negate it and sends “him” to the floor. When he realizes he may have cause Fitz to lose face, he loudly proclaims he let him win because he’s new. When he promises Fitz he’ll make it up to him later, Sylphie blushes.

Ranoa is full of familiar faces and names. Rudy doesn’t recognize Sylphie yet, but she’s right there. Princess Ariel’s other bodyguard Sir Luke reminds him of Paul. And when he enters his homeroom he encounters Prince Zanoba, whom he met and befriended while in Shirone and who calls Rudy “shisho”.

Other students include Rinia Dedoldia, the eldest daughter of Chief Ryes, whom Rudy met in Dedoldia village. She’s voiced by Ai Fairouz, ably voicing yet another “wild” girl. There’s also Pursena, another demi who may always be munching on a chicken leg, and Cliff Grimoire, who proclaims himself a magical genius.

Rudy wins Rinia over with humbleness and deference, then checks out the rest of the school. He’s a special student, so he can pretty much do what he wants, when he wants. Since his primary goal is to determine the cause and develop a cure for his ED, he heads to the massive library, where he has a very pleasant interaction with “Fitz.”

While eating lunch with Zanoba, Rudy is approached by Luke and his two girlfriends. Rudy is his usual deferent self, but it doesnt’ work on Luke, who is pissed off by the very fact Rudy doesn’t know his name: Luke Notos Greyrat. He looks like Paul (and is an excellent swordsman) because he’s from Paul’s side of the family; Rudy’s cousin.

Things suddenly take a turn for the worse when Rudy happens to pick up a pair of white undergarments, and is immediately called out as a panty thief and surrounded by angry women, many of them brandishing brooms and led by a gargantuan gorilla demi-human girl. The irony is delicious: he’s 1000% guilty of stealing panties…but not these panties!

The gorilla girl is about to bring him in when Fitz stops her, saying he dropped the princess’ laundry out the window while hanging it out to dry. Even after Fitz vouches for Rudy, the gorilla girl still wants to take him in for walking on a girls-only pathway, even though he doesn’t know all the dorm rules yet.

Fitz finally has to raise his wand and insist she unhand him, lest she and all the other girls want to end up in the infirmary. I gotta admit, in this scene, Fitz/Sylphie is as badass as Eris. The gorilla girl, named Goliade, stands down, and she and the other girls leave Rudy alone.

After sundown, Fitz heals Rudy, who apologizes and thanks him for having his back. From Rudy’s perspective, Fitz is just a really great guy who didn’t hold a grudge for being so easily beaten in the mock duel. Fitz can’t help giving off a Sylphie-esque laugh and flashes a warm smile, amused that Rudy is thanking her.

Obviously, Sylphie knows it’s Rudy. Luke even mentioned earlier that Fitz called Rudy “forgetful”. Yet she’s keeping her cards close. While the delay in his realization of who she is more than a little irritating (we’ve already been through this with her!), I have no choice but to hope, as she probably is, that he’ll eventually figure it out on his own.

Mushoku Tensei II – 04 – Onward and Upward

Rudy has now done his adventuring thing in the Northlands for two years. He works well with Soldat and his party, and is even able to take out a red dragon singlehandedly (I wish I could tell you that battle looked good, but it didn’t). Who should arrive at the tavern where Rudy and his new comrades are celebrating but Elinalise Dragonroad. And here I thought they wouldn’t cross paths anytime soon!

Elinalise continues to be someone who loves gettin’ it on with every man in sight. But while she’s flirtatious with Rudy, he’s still unable to respond, and she isn’t that keen on getting with Paul’s son anyway.

So while the horniest character not named Rudy can’t cure his ED, she does provide him with crucial information: Zentih is in the labyrinth city of Rapa in the Begaritt Continent.

We also learn Elina avoids things getting messy with her bedmates by paying them, a form of reverse prostitution.

Rudy is prepared to head to Begaritt to reunite with his mom, but one day he receives well-timed invitation from Ranoa Magic University to be a special student. He doesn’t jump at the chance at first, even though Elinalise assures him he can reunited with his family afterwards.

But what really causes Rudy to make up his mind is when he has his first dream of his naked former self in years. Goofy ol’ Hitogami tells him if he enrolls at Ranoa and research the Fittoa disaster, he’ll get his manly mojo back. That settles it for Rudy, even before he wakes to find Elinalise sleeping in his bed.

After saying his goodbyes to Sol and the others, he and Elinalise make the trip to Ranoa, putting Rudy on a collision course with a whole host of yet-to-be-introduced but likely powerful Ranoa students, as well as Sylphie (in disguise) and her royal charge.

Mushoku Tensei II – 03 – That’s Our Quagmire

As the weeks and months roll on, Rudy works with Counter Arrow a lot, continuing to build up his reputation. His relationship with Sara has improved drastically, to the point she’s snuggling up right beside him at the tavern and asking if he’ll go on a dagger-shopping date.

Rudy’s date with an excited, bubbly Sara takes place sans audio as the opening credits roll, and it’s just about the sweetest, most adorable sequence Mushouku Tensei has given us throughout its run. Desensitized to this kinda thing as I am watching rom-coms with Zane, I never thought another shoe would drop…even though this is Mushoku Tensei!

But it does, when Sara gets a little tipsy and invites herself to Rudy’s room. She heads right to the bed and isn’t subtle about wanting to sleep with him. But while things start out okay, by the time they start taking off clothes, Rudy has a surprising and unfortunate problem: He can’t get it up.

He tries to manually jumpstart his little monster (his attempts are thankfully blacked out) to no avail. The mood is ruined, the moment passes, and Sara re-robes and excuses herself, saying she was only offering herself out of obligation since he saved her life. She even mutters “awful” under her breath as she goes. That reminded me of Asuka’s final words in End of Evangelion.

It’s an unmitigated disaster, especially considering how well things were going with Sara to that point. When Sol, short for Soldat, finds Rudy drinking his feelings, his first mocking barb gets him sucker punches. As Rudy wales on him he begins to break down in tears.

Sol apologizes, and urges Rudy to tell him what’s troubling him, so they can maybe find a solution. When they sit down at the bar and drink, Rudy is initially too formal. Sol liked it better when Rudy was giving him a peace of his mind (though less-so with the punching).

When Sol learns that Rudy’s first woman abandoned him the morning after, he suggest that might’ve been why he wasn’t able to perform with Sara. Whatever led to Eris leaving, and how it caused Rudy’s current issue, Sol believes the best solution is to let a professional take care of it.

They head to the red-lantern district, where Rudy just happens to be paired up with Elise, the big sister of the girl he healed for free when he was shoveling snow in the square. Elise is happy to be serving such a kind gentleman…but try as she might, she can get him to get it up either.

During post-attempt drinks, Elise figures Rudy fears the touch of a woman because he fears that woman will betray or abandon him, as he believes Eris did. The solution as she sees it is for him to try again, but with a woman he knows well and is certain won’t turn on him.

Rudy first thinks of Roxy, but wisely notes “that’s probably wouldn’t work”. As the dawn meets them and Rudy is super hammered, Sol suggests he try again with Sara, but not rush into things this time. Rudy believed Sara when she said it was just obligation, but Sol believes she’s “plenty into him”.

All they need is a reset. Rudy promises to talk to Sara soon. But then his drunk-ass and big fat mouth get the best of him, as he mocks Sara’s body, declares his preference for the bustier, Elise, and makes fun of the shopping date.

He does this unaware that Sara is standing behind him with Suzanne, and heard everything. She walks up to him, slaps him across the face, drops her new dagger at his feet, turns around and leaves, warning him never to let her see his face again.

I’ll be honest; I was a little heartbroken for Sara. They had such a nice rapport, and he was so kind to her. The rom-com fan in me wanted to run after her like Sol says, but perhaps the damage was done. But Rudy can be, and often is, a scumbag. We know that. He still carries his magic tutor’s underwear around like a holy relic for Chrissakes!

Better for her to learn that now that later. But if this is the last we see of Sara and Counter Arrow, I’ll miss her, and the little ephemeral paradise Rudy had built for himself in that little northern town. Sara was a good woman for him, but maybe he didn’t deserve her. That said, she also said some pretty mean things when she left his room.

So now it seems like he’ll be joining Sol and his party to a newly discovered labyrinth in the Duchy of Neris. No sooner does Rudy leave this town than Elinalise arrives, and puts her feminine charms to use learning that Rudy is in Pippin, Basherant’s second city. Something tells me eventually she’s going to find her quarry. I wonder what Rudy will be up to if and when she does, and how he’ll react to her finding him.

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – 13 – Behind the Magic Eight Ball

This week’s first half or so consists of watching the same day as last week, only from the perspective of Roxy. She and two of the Fangs of the Black Wolf are canvassing the town, looking for clues as to the location of Paul’s family. It’s always nice to spend time with Roxy! Alas, her fear of Superds leads her to inadvertently avoid Rudy and Eris, and she just misses Rudy as he’s dealing with his Demon Eye.

Roxy’s Dwarven traveling companion Talhand seems amicable enough…while Elinalise quickly demonstrates her love of group sex with brigands she met in an alley. Thankfully the episode doesn’t slut-shame Elina, who is instead portrayed as a tough-ass adventurer who knows what she wants. Instead she’s used as an extreme contrast to the extremely chaste Roxy and her storybook romantic ideals.

Rudy had similar storybook designs for his sea voyage with Eris, including being shipwrecked alone together on a remote island, gradually falling in love and starting a new life there. Alas, the ship doesn’t crash, but Eris does get horribly seasick. Thankfully (I seem to say that a lot with this show), Rudy keeps his hands to himself and merely helps reduce Eris’ discomfort with healing.

Of course, Rudy and Eris took one ship while Ruijerd was smuggled aboard another by Gallus. When they arrive in the new city (I believe the same one Roxy & Co. are headed next), Rudy is escorted to the smugglers’ hideout to pick Ruijerd up. There, he learns all manner of despicable things, including that among the smugglers’ “goods” are six beast children, one of whom is killed for crying too much.

When Rudy meets him in his cell, Ruijerd tells him that in order to liberate the children, they’ll most likely have to kill all of the smugglers. But Rujerd isn’t worried about the reputation of Superds in this instance; he simply cannot abide these criminals hurting kids, and so tells Rudy he won’t have to dirty his hands. Most of the carnage occurs off-camera as Rudy locates and heals the children, who hiss at him at first, but as he can speak their language they decide trusting him is better than staying.

They’re all home free back on the surface when the kids mention the dog that was left behind. Rudy tells Ruijerd to watch the kids while he goes back to the dungeon. There, he frees a giant white dog that thanks him by pouncing on him and licking him. Rudy is luxuriating in the beast’s wonderfully fluffy fur when he’s interrupted by two demihuman warriors.

One of them heads to the city, following the children’s scent, while the younger of the two takes the giant dog and Rudy to their village, where Rudy will be given the “ultimate punishment” for the crime of “fondling the Sacret Beast”. Neither Rudy nor Roxy had much good luck this week, but even if he can’t clear things up with these tribal beast people, once their kids return home perhaps they’ll vouch for him.