Mushoku Tensei II – 02 – Saved by a Smile

Rudeus continues to do odd jobs to get his name out there, though he’s also known by the nickname “Quagmire”. He hopes if enough people know him, eventually word will get to Zenith. That said, at least one fellow adventurer, leader of another party, simply doesn’t like the cut of his jib, letting him know with a stinkeye.

Rudeus also continues to work with Counter Arrow on various jobs, though his indecision on joining them on their latest irks Sara. But since he saved her and her party on their first job together, Sara has become a lot less prickly. I’m sure her opinion of Rudy would drop significantly if she knew he carried his master’s underwear on him like a charm.

Their latest job takes them into some very cool subterranean ruins, collecting the scales of snow drakes. Rudy’s precognitive ability allows him to catch Sara when she slips on a narrow stone bridge, but any goodwill he gains is lost due to the fact he accidentally copped a feel.

The job seems relatively simple for an A-class, until the owners of the scales show up in the form of a huge group of drakes. Rudy is surrounded and once again is slow to act, but Sara is the first to come to his defense with her arrows and blade. The party is bailed out by another party, led by the guy who doesn’t like Rudy.

The other leader sucker punches Timothy, accusing him of stealing his prey. But it turns out to be a misunderstanding, as the caves where the prey originated now connects to the ruins where it didn’t before. The leader apologizes, but says Counter Arrow can only take one of the dead drakes back.

Back at the guild, Rudy celebrates with Counter Arrow for the first time, on Sara’s suggestion. He takes the opportunity to thank Sara for helping to bail him out, but she tells him Suzanne and Patrice are the ones he should thank. Then the other party leader, Sol, comes by their table, stinking drunk from ale.

He apologizes properly to Timothy, but when he sees Rudy’s smile, he lays into him, telling him it’s fake, that it makes him sick, and that Rudy’s always walking around looking down on people, acting like he’s got it worse than everyone else. When Rudy gives a limp apology, it angers Sol even more.

When Sol’s comrade finally drags him off, Rudy is left still trying to smile, but unable to hide the pain beneath. Sara, meanwhile, cleans up the drink Sol spilled, telling Rudy not to pay that asshole any mind. But what Sara doesn’t know is that, to Rudy, Sol has him pegged. He won’t face what he’s been through. He is running from something.

The next day, Suzanne, Timothy and Patrice enter the guild hall looking morose. Rudeus learns that Mimir and Sara are dead. Or rather, Mimir is dead, and the three of them decided that when the blizzard got too bad to search, Sara was left behind.

Rudeus responds somewhat neutrally, and takes his leave. But he heads straight to his room, packs his rucksack and staff, exits the town through the gates, and uses his magic to blow the blizzard away, headed to the western forest where Sara was last seen.

At this point, Rudy doesn’t care if he finds Sara alive or dead, he just wants, or needs to accomplish something, or otherwise wants to choose not to turn his back on someone like Eris turned her back on him (though we know it’s not a simple as that).

He finds Mimir’s corpse, then spots an unconscious Sara tied up within the trunk of some kind of monstrous, carnivorous tree. He dodges the tree’s attacks, uses his fire magic to bust her out, then dives under a pond to escape the tree’s limbs.

Upon surfacing, Sara comes to, and Rudy tells her he came to rescue her. The next we see them, Rudy and Sara are sitting by a fire in a cave, having removed most of their clothing to dry off. When Sara sees that Rudy’s gaze is wandering, she gets up and gets dressed, but doesn’t give him the slap a girl typically gives a peeper. On the contrary, Sara is the most cheerful we’ve seen her since she and Rudy met.

Once dry and clothed and ready to head home, Sara reaches out to Rudy as he passes her, but isn’t able to grab his arm. Instead, she calls his name, tells him she’s glad he came to rescue her, and gives him the biggest beaming smile yet. He feels saved by that smile, as if everything he’s done has been forgiven.

When Sara is reunited with the rest of Counter Arrow, Suzanne scolds Rudy for going off on his own, but Sara immediately comes to his defense, and Suzanne backs down. He also agrees to go on more jobs with Counter Arrow, and he and Sara part ways with smiles and waves.

What Rudy doesn’t see or hear is that Sara draws her collar in and says what looks something like “I love you,” with the caveat that reading anime lips is tough. The bottom line is that two episodes into his Northland adventure, Rudy has finally found a place where he belongs again and where he feels good, and has friends in Counter Arrow and especially Sara.

I really enjoyed the organic, believable way she started out cold and distrustful, but gradually came to like the little fellow after he did nothing but help her. The vibes are cheerful enough that I wish he’d throw Roxy’s unmentionables into the fire!

Mushoku Tensei II – 01 – Far Apart, But Not Alone

A still heartbroken, depressed, and lonely Rudeus spends multiple days in a wagon headed into the Northlands without speaking, until a friendly woman named Suzanne asks him what his story is. When he mentions he’s searching for his mother, a victim of the Fittoa disaster, you can see the change in body language, but Suzanne’s companion Sara still doesn’t appreciate Rudy’s rudeness.

Suzanne gives Rudy some information about the Northlands, but the morning they arrive in a town, Rudy splits off from them, rents out a room at the inn for a month, closes the windows, and lies on the bed in the dark, clutching Eris’ lock of red hair. He forces himself to get up and go to the guild for a job, and he encounters Suzanne and Sara again.

They’re members of Counter Arrow, and Suzanne is willing to have Rudy come along on their next job: a simple bear hunt. Conceding to the fact that people are stronger in numbers, especially in the frigid north, Rudy agrees to meet up with them the next morning.

Rudy is warmly welcomed by everyone except for Sara, who is the one closest in age to him, and is also constantly reminding him of Eris. As the formerly newest member, Sara doesn’t even want Rudy around, and warns him not to put any of her party at risk.

Suzanne and the others are far less harsh, with the leader Timothy even apologizing on Sara’s behalf as she’s “getting a bit full of herself; this actually draws out a small smile from Rudy, since no one he knows is fuller of herself than Eris.

When they execute the bear hunt, everything appears to be going according to plan, but there are more white bears than they expected, along with far stronger black bears. Rudy is temporarily paralyzed, as he’s apparently lost the taste for fighting at precisely the wrong time.

Nevertheless, he watches Counter Arrow work like a well-oiled machine, circling him and using all their various complimentary skills to hold back the bears just enough. When Suzanne is too tired to get up, Sara holds out a hand to lift her up, but by then they’re totally surrounded by vicious bears.

That’s when Rudy walks towards the bears, and Sara watches with disbelief as he wordlessly summons a massive explosion that kills them all with one shot. It’s the moment we knew was coming because we know Rudy is OP as hell and many levels above these guys. But while it’s not a surprising climax, it is an exceedingly satisfying one.

Rudy’s ability was never in question, it was his will. Will he let a bear simply take his life, because his family was strewn to the ends of the earth and his heart was broken by the woman he loved? No! He sees the camaraderie of the party, and sees that they fight because they care about each other, and he decides he should care too.

In the aftermath of his complete victory, Rudy helps skin the bears of their valuable pelts, and feels a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. While before he didn’t have the heart to even shake Suzanne’s hand when she offered it, now he offers his own burned hand, and she gladly shakes it. Even Sara thanks him and tells him she’s in her debt.

Back at the guild, Counter Arrow isn’t welcomed, but leered at and pelted with passive aggressive comments because they’re “newcomers”. But one nod from Suzanne to Timothy, and he’s buying a drink for the entire hall, instantly endearing themselves to everyone there.

Timothy also raises a glass to their newest member Rudeus Greyrat, and the crowd chants his name, Rudy is wearing the biggest smile he’s worn in a long, long time. Back in his room he re-opens the window shutter and starts a fire, grasps Roxy’s underwear for a bit, and then tosses Eris’ hair in the flames.

There’s no more time for moping. There’s things he needs to do, and now new friends to help him do them. Those he loves may be far away, but he knows he’s not alone.