Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as the weakest Sword God

I couldn't remember the last time I felt so... bewildered?, perplexed?, hmmm.

Maybe bewildered was the word, suddenly, Ariel had sworn loyalty to Orsted, from now on, we would share our plans and work together for the same goals, I had the second princess of Asura as a coworker.

...

The next day, we entered the bandits' territory, no one seemed to be chasing us, normally, Hitogami could have anticipated our alternative strategy but...

I looked at the bracelet I wore on my left arm, Hitogami was unable to foresee any changes in the future caused directly by my actions, he shouldn't know that we had taken a different route, not even now.

I had been moving forward for a while, reflecting on all this, when I felt the direction of the wind change abruptly.

"Stop! They're here" I said and the others stopped.

At this Rudeus came running towards me.

"They have us surrounded..." I whispered.

"Very well, it's time to negotiate remember?" He said, I nodded and took a few steps back.

I backed up to where the rest of the group was, Sylphiette looked slightly worried about Rudeus but she could get to him in less than a blink if something happened, around us dark shapes passed between the trees, they must already be surrounding us.

At that moment, the bushes in front of us rustled and a man came into the light, others showed themselves too, coming out from behind the trees, or advancing on the branches they were perched on.

The man who had stood in front of us was the typical stereotype of a bandit and carried an unlit torch in his hand

He took another step forward and said out loud: "What does the echo say in response?"

"Rabbit innards, and the song of a thrush..." Rudeus replied

These were code words that Orsted taught Rudeus to communicate with the bandits

"What the hell?...What is the thrush's chick?" the bandit lord said in a doubtful tone.

"The striped acorn" Rudeus replied, that was Triss's code name.

The bandit lord looked even more confused than before, but then he shrugged and raised a hand, the bandits stalking us silently melted back into the forest.

"Follow me" the bandit said curtly, lighting his torch

Rudeus turned to us to give a nod of approval and the group exhaled in relief.

...

The man ended up leading us to a lonely cabin in the middle of the forest, there was an enclosed area for our horses outside, and the inside was large enough to include a living room, a bedroom, and a storage space.

The bandit lord accepted his payment and explained how things were going to work.

"We'll take the thrush to you, the crossing is tomorrow at dawn, no deal if you leave here before then" he said and walked away into the forest.

"Ufff..."

After I dropped my bags on the ground, Rudeus explained our next steps to the rest of the group.

We would cross the border early tomorrow, with a woman we would meet soon as a guide, and for tonight, we had to stay here, that covered everything, really.

"I guess we'll just have to pray that we're not handed over to Darius' forces in the morning," Luke replied.

"Ah! My ambitions have been shattered, and I'm reduced to a plaything for the bandits, how terrible!" Ariel said in a playful tone.

"Rudeus, I hope you'll be kind enough to let Cleane and Ellemoi go at least," she said, hugging herself.

"In any case, it seems that we'll have a roof over our heads tonight. I imagine our journey across the border won't be easy, so let's make sure we get plenty of rest while we can," she continued.

The others took that as a sign to begin their preparations for the night, Ariel herself looking visibly fatigued after our walk through the forest.

Luke stood by the window and kept a close watch outside, but every now and then he cast probing glances in my and Rudeus' direction, it was clear that he still had suspicions about us.

I for my part sat on the floor in a corner that gave me a good view of everyone, Ghislaine had taught me this position and another thing is that I was too lazy to keep watch.

...

Two hours passed more or less without incident, at some point it started to rain, you could hear it hitting the roof of the cabin, now that I think about it, it's the first time I've seen rain in this world...

Ariel was sleeping, she had fainted as soon as she got into the bed that Sylphie had prepared for her, Ellemoi had accompanied her to the bedroom and Luke was standing by the door like some kind of guardian.

After a few moments, there was a knock on the door, the sound echoed throughout the cabin.

I stood up and opened the door.

A hooded woman entered, she was wrapped in a thick, waterproof monster skin cloak, but it was still easy to tell that she was... well... voluptuous.

"Damn, couldn't you two open the door a little quicker, you morons?" the woman said.

She took off her cloak, muttering curses to no one in particular, she had light brown hair, which was typical for Asura, and she was wearing very revealing clothing, which was much less typical.

Boy, are those puppies really bigger than Eris's?...

"So, who of you wants to see me? I figured some moron was going to try and buy me for the night, but it seems not! Spit it out! I'm a busy woman!" the woman screamed.

She had spoken so loudly and intensely that her voice seemed to fill the entire cabin, Sylphiette grimaced and Cleane looked at her reproachfully.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, but we have someone sleeping in the back, would you mind lowering your voice?..." Sylphiette muttered

The woman's mood immediately worsened.

"What the hell?! You called me down here in the pouring rain and all you have to say is keep it down?! They call me Quick Triss for a goddamn reason, you know?" she screamed.

Luke gently stepped forward, taking Triss by the hand and wiping the water from her forehead with a handkerchief.

"Please forgive us if you can, we know your time is precious, but we just ask that you consider what we have to say" he said.

Triss stared at Luke for a moment with her mouth open, but then a blush spread across her face, and she looked down at him.

"Well, if you say so, I guess I'll listen, at least," she muttered.

Somehow, it had worked, never underestimate the power of a pretty face.

Luke glanced at Rudeus, the rest was up to him now.

"Hey, before we talk, would you mind telling me your name?" Triss said as she let go of his hand.

"...I'm Luke," he replied.

Luke preferred to completely omit his last name, then walked back into the group without saying anything else.

Triss muttered her name to herself with a dreamy expression.

Rudeus stood up from his spot, "It's nice to meet you Triss," he said with a perverted smile...

"Who the hell are you?" She replied, her expression of doubt giving way to a frown.

"My name is Rudeus," he said, tilting his head.

Triss slowly looked him over from head to toe, then raised an eyebrow.

"Rudeus? I think I've heard that before. Wait a second...are you Quagmire?" she asked.

"What is the most vicious magician in the magic city of Sharia doing here?..." Triss tried to speak but a small stone bullet grazed her cheek and crashed into the window.

"Uh...I'm sorry" she muttered.

It seemed she wasn't just shaking, neither was Rudeus.

"I'm not uggg...trying to butt into your business or anything, okay?..." she continued.

"It's just that information is needed to survive in this line of work" Triss continued "We know the names and faces of most of the, well...dangerous people" she said

"I'm not really that dangerous" Rudeus said

"Yeah, sure, don't worry, I get it, you're just some random guy named Rudeus, not that famous magician right? That woman over there isn't Silent Fittz and that guy over there isn't the Sword God, is that okay?" she said.

"...Yeah, let's go with that" Rudeus muttered.

"Very well then, Random Rudeus, would you mind telling me what business you have with Triss, the border-jumping thug?" she said.

"Very well, for the moment..."

"Excuse me, are you, by any chance... Tristina Purplehouse?" a voice from the back of the room interrupted Rudeus.

Triss looked at her from across the room, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Why do you know that name?" she asked.

"Oh! It's really you, don't you remember me? We met only once, at my fifth birthday party?" Ariel said.

"Princess Ariel?..." Triss asked, looking totally stunned, for a long moment she seemed to study Ariel's features carefully, perhaps comparing them to her memories, and then she froze completely, her mouth slightly open.

"Why...but...what are you doing here, your highness?..." she muttered.

With her legs shaking, Triss knelt on the wooden floor, Ariel stepped past and stood before her.

"I received word that my father is deathly ill, and he intended to return to Asura," Ariel said with a smile.

"But it seems my older brother is not in a particularly welcoming mood," she continued.

"Oh, I understand, so that's why you've come to us, to be smuggled across the border..." she said.

Triss nodded thoughtfully, I got the feeling she'd already heard about the recent battle in the forest, though not the specific details.

"But what about you, Tristina, what are you doing in a place like this? Last I heard, you'd disappeared without a trace..." she muttered.

"Uhm, well..." Triss hesitated for a moment, but looking into Ariel's eyes, she seemed to find a reason to continue.

"It's a long story, but..." she muttered.

From that point on, everything moved quickly and easily, it turned out that she didn't need to say a single word, Triss told Ariel the whole story of her miserable life as a sinner in confession.

Ariel, on the other hand, cried openly for most of the story, and her tears seemed genuine, in part...

With the last tears still running down her face, she made a promise to Triss: "I can't really understand your suffering, but I guarantee that I will give the man who did this to you his just punishment" and then asked Triss to help our cause by testifying what Darius had done to her.

Still, Triss was hesitant to accept, the Asura Kingdom was very powerful, and Darius was a cunning and ruthless man, he insisted that we had no chance of winning.

Ariel, for her part, told her that this was not true, she named her allies: Sylphiette, Rudeus, myself, and Peragius himself, and argued that we were capable of defeating Darius and winning the throne from him.

Triss agonized over her decision for an hour, but after that painful period of silence, she finally nodded, swearing then and there to escort Ariel to the capital and help her defeat Darius.

and with that Ariel had gained another loyal follower in no time.

=====

Please give me power stones please help me!!!