While the group was catching up, Hawk returned.
"Mission complete," Hawk said, his voice brief as he revealed the fate of Gall Farion.
"!"
"I see. Good job," Shun said, patting Hawk's head.
"…"
Hawk stood still, showing no emotion.
"I can believe he is your son now, he is monstrously strong," Hilda muttered as she took Shun's place and started patting Hawk's head.
"…"
"You can call me Mom," Hilda added. Even the emotionless Hawk was getting flustered by this 'big' woman. Seeing his reaction, Hilda suddenly hugged him tightly.
"He is so cute!" she said, but…
"Well, his face does take after mine," Shun said with a smile.
Hawk, The man of few words was left even more speechless by Shun's blatant lie.
The two continued to tease the silent seraphim.
After a few minutes of chatting, Shun gathered everyone to return to Ranoa University. They had killed the boss, so there was no reason to stay. Even Eris and Ghislaine lost their reason to remain, so they all joined the floating house.
As the house departed, Nina stared at it absentmindedly. She had lost her father and her childhood friend, who was also her cousin. Although she did not have a good relationship with her father, she still felt sad.
The tears she held back while Shun was around began to fall, and she finally cried without restraint. But a voice interrupted her.
"Hey, I finally found you."
"!" Nina felt a bolt of shock.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to take you with me."
"…" Nina was at a loss for these blunt, tyrant-like words.
"Did you seriously think you could steal my first kiss then leave me?" Shun added.
"Eh? First…?" Nina had spent most of her life training in sword mastery. She had not left her home much, meaning she was a naive country girl. She actually believed Shun's words.
"T-that was a first for me, too," Nina said, as if offering comfort.
"Earlier, I couldn't even enjoy it because you were too aggressive."
Nina's face flushed at the mention of their passionate moment.
"T-then we can do it again…" Nina couldn't believe what she had just said. She immediately raised her hands to take back her words, but Shun wasn't the type to miss his chance.
"Mmph~" Before Nina realized it, her lips were already captured.
This time, since it wasn't for a show, Shun didn't act passively. His hands explored every inch of Nina's body.
Pant! Pant!
When the minute-long kiss ended, Nina breathed heavily, and then she was carried back into the dojo where all the chaos had occurred earlier.
Shun used the Float-Float Fruit to clear the corpses, then used the Arc of Time to fix the broken walls and clear away the foul smells.
Then, he created a simple bed large enough for the two of them.
"W-wait!" It was going too fast for Nina, and she needed a moment to rest.
Shun nodded and used the Arc of Time on her clothes, turning them back to the state of mere threads.
"!"
Seeing her bare chest, Shun thought,
'It ain't much, but it's an honest size.'
——
Jino Britts had been emotionally broken today, as his childhood friend and a cousin had become lovers with another man. As for the Sword God's death, he couldn't care less.
'Ah, my sword… I have to get it back'
Jino remembered it had broken after making contact with Shun's neck.
Thus, Jino started walking back toward the dojo.
He arrived shortly after, and just as he was about to open the door, he heard a familiar voice, the voice he loved.
It made Jino hesitate, but he worked up his courage to enter. Right when he was about to open the door, he heard it.
"Agh~" a loud cry came from Nina.
Soon, a rhythmic clapping noise followed, accompanied by Nina's voice. Even an idiot could guess what was happening inside.
Thud-!
Jino Britts fell to the ground, his legs feeling weak.
He cried silently, then turned and walked away.
On this day, the man with the potential of a Sword God was truly broken.
——
Shun had already sent the floating house away on its own.
'Having a house is starting to become a burden, since I could just teleport them back' he thought.
As for the heartbroken guy, Shun had noticed him but didn't care.
'I have no grudge against him; in fact, I had forgotten he existed until today. I guess some people are just unlucky.'
The two finished their little sparring session and were now cuddling.
"Let's go home."
"Home?" Nina was confused, since she was already at her home.
"I'll take you with me," Shun said, leaving her no choice.
"…"
'Killed her father, mentally broke her childhood friend, and killed a bunch of her dojo students who had reached the Sword Saint level and sided with Gall Farion… if I leave her here, she might just end her life by tomorrow.'
Shun decided to take her with him so she wouldn't blame herself for siding with him.
"Okay…" Nina nodded.
Shun sighed deeply. His original plan had been to use Nina to make Gall Farion angry, then leave her alone after killing her father. He had no intention of becoming close with Nina, and given his openness about his plan to kill her father, it should have been impossible for them to end up like this. But…
'My life seriously can't go smoothly, no matter how strong I get, huh?' Shun sighed again.
'I ended up creating the most unfortunate damsel in distress in history…'
——
POP!
Shun and Nina returned to the Ranoa Magic University earlier than the rest of the group.
The floating houses are faster than modern planes, but considering the distance, it should take an hour or two for them to arrive, he mused.
"Let's walk around the street vendors and eat something," Shun said, taking her hand.
"Okay," Nina nodded.
Shun and Nina walked around eating skewered meat and sweets while waiting for the floating house.
The two took a seat on a nearby bench and sat in silence.
"You see… I mainly use time magic," Shun broke the silence.
"If I want, I probably can travel into the past or even the future."
"!" Nina waited silently for what Shun was trying to say.
"But I'll never travel into the past, even if I were to die. So, I try every day not to live with regrets. Regarding everything that happened in the Holy Land of Swords, I don't regret it either."
"…"
"That's why I won't say sorry or anything half-assed."
"Okay…" Nina nodded, then added, "About Father… you said he was the reason for your friend's death. I think he deserved it."
"…"
Nina muttered with complicated emotions, then she boldly grabbed Shun's hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Their sudden relationship seemed to finally be settling, until…
"Oi!! What do you think you're doing?!" A man's loud shout stopped them.
When they turned toward the voice, they saw a group of four: Luke, Sylphie, Rudeus, and Ariel.
The one who shouted was Luke.
'Why are they here? And why is this trash shouting at me?'
Shun was confused; he had never even spoken to this guy before.
While Ariel was a bit shocked by the sight, she had expected it. Still, she froze on the spot. Rudeus and Sylphie had different priorities.
"Hey! Luke, stop it!"
"Don't stop me, he just became Princess Ariel's consort yesterday!" Luke seemed furious.
'Is this another case like Jino Britts?' Shun was speechless.
"I missed the part where that's your problem," Shun said, not weak-willed enough to take criticism from a stranger.
"!"
Hearing Shun's words, Luke couldn't hold back anymore. He stole a glance at Ariel, who was still silent, then sprinted toward Shun.
"W-wait! Luke!" Ariel finally came to her senses, but it was too late.
Under the shocked eyes of Ariel, Sylphie, Rudeus, and Nina, the furious Luke threw his full-power punch toward Shun.
'What the hell is this bastard doing?! He is totally dead now' Rudeus thought, wanting to kill the guy himself.
But… something unexpected happened.
Smack!
Luke's fist connected cleanly with Shun's jaw and easily knocked him off the bench.
"…" Nina gasped, holding her arms to her mouth. She expected the stranger's arm to break like Jino Britts' sword had earlier, but… what was happening?
Shun stayed on the ground without a word.
"Luke! What do you think you're doing?!" Ariel shouted in anger. It was too sudden and unexpected for everyone. Even Shun was observing the emotions of the man named Luke.
'Joy, excitement, and expectation… not emotions one should feel at this moment if he were doing it for Ariel.'
'What's happening now?! Was Luke actually super strong?' Rudeus thought, then shook his head.
'No, his strength is average at best. Shun-san purposefully lowered his defense and got hit on purpose… that's even more terrifying than just fighting back.'
While the group waited for Shun's reaction, Shun's focus was at something different.
"Rudeus, why would this guy act this way so suddenly? What do you think?" Shun asked, completely ignoring the man who had punched him.
"Eh?" Rudeus turned silent, then stole a glance at Ariel.
'Isn't that because you NTR'd him?'
"I have no idea… I don't even know him that well," Rudeus took the safe route.
"I see," Shun said, then cast a simple word magic that enveloped the whole city. Though it was simple for Shun. Others felt differently, the magic pressure released from Shun was immense.
"!"
In an instant, purple magical text circled the city.
"U-uhm, Shun-san. Can we settle this with our words…?"
"That's what I want too. It's lie-detector magic; inside those purple words, only the truth can be spoken."
"Does such convenient magic really exist?" Rudeus asked.
"Well, try to lie then."
"I'm actually—" Rudeus' words faded away halfway.
"!"
"I-it's actually real? I was trying to say I was a girl," Rudeus admitted. Since he was speaking the truth, his words made a sound.
'It's similar to the Calm-Calm Fruit, but it's just word magic that ensures only the truth can be told within this city.'
Seeing them convinced, Shun spoke up.
"Ariel."
"Yes…" Ariel was a princess, and polygamy was normal for nobles, but it was still too sudden.
"I have around twenty women around the world with whom I have an intimate relationship."
"!"
"Also, I have ten children."
"W-what?!" Rudeus covered his mouth, but after speaking, he was ignored.
"I see. Are they blood-related?" Ariel's question showed her composure returning.
"No."
"Phew." For some reason, Rudeus sighed in relief alongside Ariel.
"I'm not—" Ariel's mouth moved, but no word came out.
"I was trying to say 'I'm not upset'…" Ariel was now convinced as well.
"Then, let's start asking questions."
"Yes." Ariel nodded, then turned to Luke.
"Luke. Explain yourself." Ariel's expression was sharp. She was already angry from seeing this blue-haired girl kissing Shun, and now one of her trusted friends was acting like a brute monkey.
"Ariel-sama, all I did was—"
"I just wanted to—"
"…"
Under the gazes of everyone, Luke's mouth kept moving, but no voice came out.
"Luke!!" Ariel was nearing the limit of her patience.
"It's fine," Shun said, walking up to stand next to Ariel and hugging her by the waist, as if to show it off to Luke. However, Ariel didn't hug him back like she usually did. Shun didn't mind, as he knew he was at fault for letting her see that, but Ariel was surprised by her own reaction. She was supposed to be just using Shun to take the throne of the Asura Kingdom.
'What's wrong with me…'
"I'll ask a better question: Did you meet a white, pixelated guy in your dream, in a completely white space?"
"!"
While others were confused, Rudeus immediately understood and watched Luke's expression turn sour.
'That bastard got a new apostle? Though it's the first time I'm meeting one of them' Rudeus thought, beginning to understand the danger of Hitogami.
"Luke. Answer him," Ariel's tone was cold.
"I… met a god. He told me that the Magic God is a fake, a heretic that should have been dead." Luke was able to finish his sentence, meaning he truly believed those words.
"…"
"Now that I remember, it was Luke's idea to come here with this group," Sylphie suddenly remembered.
'So that's why they're here at this random bench.'
"At first I doubted the god too, but he kept predicting everything. Like the Demon King Badigadi being sealed, and that Ariel-sama would be fooled by him."
"I must defeat him and save you and the world! His powers are nothing but magic items left by the real Magic God!"
'Tsk. This is why I'm scared of cultists and yandere types. They don't use their brains' Shun thought. He wasn't offended by the words at all. 'But calling me a fake… isn't really wrong.'
Shun wasn't really in the mood to fight a weakling.
"Rudeus."
"Yes?"
"Deal with him."
"Quagmire, don't listen to him. As a fellow Greyrat, let's take him down."
Rudeus, the innocent bystander, suddenly received two offers. While Rudeus was flustered, Luke added, "Don't worry about his magic; the god told me he didn't bring them today."
"Luke-san, sorry, but stop talking."
'Otherwise you'll put me in trouble too' Rudeus thought, raising the magic staff gifted by Eris long ago.
Luke clicked his tongue, drew his sword, and jumped toward Sylphie to take her hostage.
'Now that I think about it, didn't something similar happen in the original timeline? I don't remember the details, but this idiot is an apostle of Hitogami.'
Before Sylphie could react, her body started floating, successfully dodging Luke.
"Thank you, Shun-san." Rudeus, who had been hesitant, no longer wavered now that Sylphie had been targeted.
He used his signature Quagmire magic, and Luke immediately lost his footing.
"Agh-!"
As Luke's body began to sink into the mud, Rudeus raised his magic staff with full power.
Bonk!
"…"
Luke fell unconscious.
'This guy is surprisingly cruel' Shun thought.
——
The group decided to go back to Ariel's house with Luke tied in tight ropes.
While walking, Rudeus asked in a quiet voice, "By the way, why did you let yourself get punched? That only fueled this guy's suspicions."
"Huh?" Shun looked at Rudeus as if he were an idiot.
"Amateur."
"Eh?"
"Do you remember the situation I was found in?"
"Yes."
"If I had fought back and beaten him up instead of getting punched, Ariel's anger wouldn't have calmed down. She would have given me the cold shoulder for a while."
"!" Rudeus' eyes were wide with shock.
"This is called the victim card."
"…"
'I can't tell if this guy is a great man or just a petty one' Rudeus eventually stopped thinking.
Creak!
Before they realized it, they had arrived at Ariel's house. The group took seats in the living room with the tied-up Luke on the floor.
"How should we deal with him?" Rudeus asked.
"I'll let you guys choose, but I recommend just silencing him," Shun said.
"!"
"I-isn't that too cruel?" Sylphie said. Although he was dumb, he was a long-time friend of hers and Ariel's.
"I return favors tenfold, and grudges a thousandfold. This time will be no different."
"…"
"Ariel-san, what do you think?" Rudeus asked.
The lie-detector magic is still working within the city; if there were scammers trying to make a living right now, well, unlucky for them.
"Let's hear him, then decide," Ariel said after a long silence. She was the one who had taken this betrayal the hardest.
Shun noticed her expression and made her float until she landed on his lap.
"…"
Then, he hugged her tightly.
Seeing the two behaving like this, the newly reunited Rudeus and Sylphie felt awkward. They had planned to date in the evening, and Sylphie was prepared to use the aphrodisiac Ariel had suggested, but an unfortunate accident had happened.
Meanwhile, Nina sat still and alone.
"Um, who is that girl?" Rudeus asked to change the subject until Luke woke up.
"She is the Sword God's daughter, Nina."
"!"
"N-nice to meet you," Nina said, feeling awkward in this weird situation.
The group was surprised by her status, which was more impressive than they had expected.
"Her father got killed by one of my children, so I kidnapped her."
"…"
'What kind of crazy plot is this? I can never predict the words that will come out of this guy' Rudeus thought. They had assumed it was just a simple adultery case.
Before long, Luke woke up, still feeling dizzy.
"Agh-! My head hurts…" Luke said as he looked around. He instantly felt furious seeing Ariel sitting on Shun's lap, but feeling the complicated gazes of his two friends, he remembered what happened earlier and looked down.
"Luke," Ariel called his name.
"Ariel-sama, I only did it for you."
"…"
"He will get in the way of your ascension to the throne."
"Shun, is the earlier magic still active?" Ariel asked.
"Yes."
"Then he truly believes those words… he is really being manipulated by that Hitogami person," Ariel's face saddened. Betrayal wasn't an unusual phenomenon in kingdom politics, but Luke was her childhood friend and long-time ally.
"What should I do with him?" Shun's cruel words brought Ariel and Luke back to reality. Seeing Ariel turn her head to avoid his stare, Shun touched her cheeks and softly turned her to face him.
"I will not kill him."
Ariel's expression brightened a bit.
"But the future queen can't be biased toward her subjects; a fitting punishment must be given," Shun said, to which Ariel nodded.
Then, under the surprised eyes of everyone, Ariel kissed Shun. The kiss grew wilder and wilder as time passed.
"!"
Luke's expression turned ugly.
'Ariel-san knows about Luke's feelings… so this is the punishment they decided on?' Rudeus' face turned pale.
'They're cruel… It's NTR!'
After a minute, the two finally stopped. Shun wiped his lips, now wet with Ariel's saliva, with Ariel's own hair.
"…"
"The punishment for the fool who was manipulated and betrayed the future queen of the Asura Kingdom: thirty years of excommunication!"
Before they realized it, Shun had created a mini-hammer and a wooden platform.
"Plus, as for the punishment for punching me, his master will be punished too," Shun added.
"Eh?" Even Ariel was surprised.
"This fool's master, Ariel, will be impregnated by the Magic God. Ten children within twenty years."
"…"
The group was astounded by this sudden trial. Ignoring them, Shun struck the mini-hammer on the wooden platform, signifying the final result of their tiny judgment trial in Ariel's living room.
"W-wait you bastard, Ariel-sama has nothing to do with me!" Luke shouted, but his words meant nothing to Shun.
Shun got up from his seat and walked to Luke. He never once looked Luke in the eyes. Then…
POP!
With Shun's most basic ability, Luke was erased from existence, at least in the eyes of everyone else.
"…"
"Shun-san, what did you do?" Rudeus asked nervously. Someone suddenly disappearing without a trace was creepy, no matter the reason.
"Teleported him to a land far away. An island named Marineford."
"I see…"
'Does he mean his own world?' Rudeus thought, then realized, His lie-detector magic is still on, which means… he was serious about the trial thing earlier!
"By the way, my floating house has arrived. Let's meet them. We brought Eris and Ghislaine too."
"!"
Rudeus' expression turned pale at the mention of Eris.
'Well, I couldn't care less about their love lives.'
——
The group left Ariel's house and smoothly entered the floating house in the sky via Shun's bubble elevator.
The lie-detector magic had been cancelled once Luke was gone.
"Shun, where were you?!" To Shun's shock, the one who spoke was Hawk.
Hawk was uncharacteristically pissed off today. Shun had suddenly given him a mission, and while he had had fun fighting the swordsmen earlier, that wasn't the problem. The issue was what happened afterward.
When Hawk was about to leave once his mission was done, Shun stopped him and said, "Don't leave yet, I'll give you your reward. I'll repel the Seaprism Stone weakness."
Even for the emotionless Hawk, it was a great reward.
So he waited, but… Shun disappeared, and he was left alone on the floating house with Hilda.
'And that stupid red-haired girl keeps asking for a spar after being defeated' Hawk thought. He had never felt this much emotion in a single day.
"Oh, I forgot about that. Are you angry?" Shun asked with a smile.
"Should I just not do it? Let's give the reward later then."
"…"
"…not angry."
"Huh?"
"NOT ANGRY!"
"All right, all right, calm down," Shun said, patting him on the head.
"…"
The conversation was amusing to the crowd watching them curiously.
Suddenly, from the head being patted, a bubble about the size of a basketball emerged.
"!"
Crush!
Shun used an immense amount of magic power to crush the bubble.
As soon as the weakness was repelled, Hawk disappeared in a flash of light, returning to his previous location in the One Piece world.
"Not even a thank you, huh? Is this what they call the rebellious phase?" Shun muttered.
"Uhm… who was that kid?" Rudeus asked.
"That's one of my children."
After that, the two groups mingled and decided to have dinner together. Since there were a lot of people present, Shun and Aisha cooked together, much to Aisha's delight.
At the dinner table, Shun decided to give Rudeus a big mission.
"Rudeus."
"Yes."
"Find a man named Kalman Aleksander. I think that was the name," Shun said. It was the last significant name on his revenge list, aside from Hitogami.
"Kalman?"
"Yes." Shun didn't remember anything else about this guy.
"I'll do my best!"
With Rudeus' word, the dinner concluded.
——
After dinner, Shun lent his bubble elevator to let the guests go home.
Shun sat alone on the veranda.
'Today is Hilda's turn. Hilda and Lilia had an agreement and took their turns. Despite being perverts, they never did three-player games.'
After half an hour, Hilda finally arrived.
Creak!
She entered without knocking.
"Welcome…" Shun said, but was surprised by the two people Hilda had brought with her.
"What's with them?" Shun asked, pointing toward Linia and Pursena.
"I gave them a lesson and training over the last few days. Check the results."
"…"
What is she on about?
"Why are you surprised? What did you think I was training them for?" Hilda asked, as if Shun were acting weird.
Shun was about to be surprised by the pervertedness of the Greyrats once again.
——
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Shun let out a sound of pain for the first time in his life. He had never felt this helpless before.
"Linia! Stop letting your teeth touch!" Hilda scolded from the side.
"Yes…" Linia, who was kneeling in front of Shun, dived in once again.
"Ouch!" Shun was in pain again.
'Is this girl actually an apostle of Hitogami?!'
Shun had been tortured for the last ten minutes.
Seeing Shun like this, Hilda almost let out a laugh before pulling Linia away.
"I guess there's no other choice! Watch and learn."
Hilda said and switched places with Linia.
——
Next morning, Shun woke up with complicated feelings. When he turned his head, there was a cat, a dog, and Hilda.
'I have nothing to do in other worlds, but… I'll temporarily go back.'
Shun got up and teleported to the One Piece world to meet Baccarat and get his luck increased.
'I feel like the perverts in the Mushoku world are just using me for my body…'
While thinking such things, Shun found the Gran Tesoro.
"Welcome back," Baccarat welcomed Shun into her room as always.
"Bring me the news from the World Economy News," Shun said, which Baccarat repeated to her subordinate.
"Is something wrong? You seem… tired," Baccarat said, then patted her lap.
"Yeah, just a bit tired," Shun didn't refuse the invitation and rested his head.
"I'll need you to increase my luck later."
"Of course!"
Since he had free time, Shun wanted to let out some steam against someone strong.
A few moments later, Baccarat took the newspaper from her subordinate and handed it to Shun.
"Here you go."
"Thanks." Shun took the news, and as soon as he read it, there was a huge headline.
'The Marine's rage eliminates the future island, Egghead, from existence.'
"Huh?" Shun was stunned.
When he read the details:
'Vegapunk, the genius scientist from Egghead Island, is a criminal who created a mass-killing weapon and used it on Sabaody Island not long ago. To which the honorary admiral protected everyone, but the Marine's rage burned brightly. The mad dog Admiral Akainu turned the whole island into a wasteland with a rain of magma.'
"…"
"Ha?"