Mushoku Tensei Redundancy Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – The G.o.d that Dwells in the Holy Sword Region [Sword G.o.d Jino Britts]

 

Sword G.o.d Jino Britts.

He is said to be the weakest Sword G.o.d in history.

Having never left the Holy Sword Region even once in his lifetime, with neither a tale of defeating a formidable foe.

Being the least popular of all the Sword G.o.ds, people throughout the ages spoke about him as [a man who only became Sword G.o.d due to the pa.s.sing of generations].

There have been only little confirmation as to whether he was the weakest or not.

However there is one fact that is for certain.

Out of all the Sword G.o.ds, he lived the longest.

 

Jino Britts was born in the Holy Sword Region.

His father was a Sword Emperor and his mother was the younger sister of the Sword G.o.d.

 

He was three years old when he became self aware.

Jino had been swinging his sword for as long as he could remember.

Taking a wooden sword for children, he learned the way of swinging the sword from his father.

 

Just like that memory, Jino’s childhood days were filled with swordsmans.h.i.+p.

Waking up early, running and practice-swinging, training after breakfast, training after lunch, fitting in a short break after dusk and eating dinner, practice-swinging and then going to bed.

It was that kind of life.

 

That being said, Jino did not particularly like swordsmans.h.i.+p.

He trained like it was a natural thing to do but was only doing it because of his parents made him.

He never once did it by his own will.

 

Still when he was young, it was still good.

There were only those who were either practicing or practiced swordsmans.h.i.+p around Jino.

Other kids were doing it as if it was natural and his Sword Emperor father as well as his mother who was the Sword G.o.d’s younger sister, praised Jino for learning new techniques.

Even the retired old man praised Jino for being an admirable child when he was running around with a wooden sword.

There was no room for doubt.

Swordsmans.h.i.+p was common sense for Jino.

 

However, as Jino rose in rank, his surroundings changed.

His father who was pleased with him simply holding the sword became stricter as he ranked up.

Swing your sword to overpower your opponent.

You are still weak, don’t be overconfident just because you are overflowing a bit with talent.

Like that, he taught Jino and repeated harsh training beyond the likes of before.

 

Even the adults from the dojo, who in the beginning used to watch over Jino pleasantly, began to turn towards him bluntly with unpleasant eyes as he pa.s.sed through the ranks of Intermediate and Advanced and beat them in matches.

At that moment, swordsmans.h.i.+p for Jino changed to something he was not interested in.

 

Even then, it was not like he wanted to do something else.

If it was a child from another country, he may have said something like wanting to become an adventurer.

However for Jino, the idea of [leaving home] never came out.

For some reason even his parents never taught him anything like that. Because there was no need to.

Jino never knew that there was an ever expanding world outside of the Holy Sword Region.

To Jino, the Holy Sword Region was the entire world.

Swordsmans.h.i.+p was the same as the likes of breathing air and eating food.

That’s why he continued to practice it.

 

To someone like himself, his childhood friend Nina also happened to be his only friend.

Nina was the daughter of the Sword G.o.d.

In the Holy Sword Region, anyone lower than the Saint ra

nk are not allowed to enter the main dojo.

Anyone not higher than than the Advanced rank, including children, were thrown into dojos near their homes.

Nina was the daughter of the Sword G.o.d but she was no exception.

 

Nina wasn’t the only kid in her generation, but she was the only kid that was on par with Jino’s swordsmans.h.i.+p.

He got along with her.

In the Holy Sword Region, the popular topic was always about swordsmans.h.i.+p.

However, despite the fact that Jino disliked swordsmans.h.i.+p, he was a one of a kind genius and his theory regarding swordsmans.h.i.+p had an extraordinary side to it.

The only person in the same generation that followed him in that regard was Nina.

 

Nina was the leader.

She brought children of the same generation together and stood on the top of that summit herself.

She not only stood at the top of the children from the same dojo, but also the ones from every dojo in the Holy Sword Region.

Although there was the fact that she was the Sword G.o.d’s daughter, Nina was definitely talented. Among the children, her swordsmans.h.i.+p was the strongest.

Amongst the children in the Holy Sword Region, the ability of one’s sword was the basis for everything.

 

During her break from sword practice, Nina gathered the children and made a secret organization.

It was an organization only for children.

Jino took the role of second in command within the organization.

Although there was the fact that he was the second strongest, him getting along well with her played a role as well.

 

Nina and Jino.

It was most likely that these two saw something different in swordsmans.h.i.+p.

As proof, out of all the children in Nina’s group, most of them never reached past the Sword Saint rank.

 

That organization lasted for five years but once Nina reached the Sword Saint rank, it was disbanded.

As expected, Nina and Jino reached the rank of Sword Saint at the same time.

Even compared to history, their growth was considered to be quite fast.

 

Especially Jino.

He became a Sword Saint at a mere 12 years old.

When Jino became a Sword Saint, people around him yelled in surprise [Isn’t he the youngest?].

Both his father and mother praised him with open arms.

 

However Jino was not particularly happy.

He felt like he just did as he was told, so he didn’t think it was amazing, and he knew that the four year older Nina was stronger than himself.

 

Nina and Jino were allowed to practice in the main dojo after becoming Sword Saints.

Nevertheless, nothing changed.

Everyday, everyday, sword training.

As usual.

Since Nina was the closest to him in terms of age and skill, he always practiced with her .

As usual.

Nina dragged around Jino like her henchman as usual.

As usual.

Despite the fact that Nina was surrounded by senior swordswomen, the fact that she was the leader didn’t change.

Things that did change, were things such as the Sword G.o.d looking over his training and the increase in distance between his home and the dojo.

 

Ahh that’s not right.

The opportunity to receive teachings by Nina’s father, Sword G.o.d Gal Farion increased as well.

He said something totally different from what Jino’s father said.

 

[Swing the sword for yourself]

 

If Gal’s words were to be summarized, it would give off that kind of feeling.

Jino’s dad would often say the likes of [Swing the sword for the sake of getting stronger] at the dinner table.

Jino knew the difference between the two phrases, but he couldn’t really tell which one was right.

In regards to each one, nothing really hit home.

 

Nevertheless, there was no real scolding as long as he completed the training given to him.

Also, in the occasional mock battles, as long as you didn’t lose too much, no one said anything.

Despite the fact that moving to the dojo dropped his mock battle win rate, it was a fight against adults who were 10 years older than Jino. There was nothing to blame for the losses he sometimes suffered.

 

Although there was change…. nothing big changed.

That’s what he thought.

 

It was obviously that day that the big change occurred.

 

She came.

 

Eris Greyrat.

 

The moment Eris arrived at the Holy Sword Region, she did a striking debut.

Defeating Jino and Nina in an instant, she gave off a strong impression.

 

Complete defeat.

But even that was not a huge change for Jino.

For Jino, something like losing was an everyday occurrence.

Although he was praised as a genius amongst his generation, he always lost to Nina.

It was the first time he lost to such a surprise attack, but when there were times he traded blows with his father or the Sword G.o.d, it ended in a similar result.

Therefore, it was the same thing either way.

 

It was not like he didn’t feel angry, but after being scolded by his father due to the Sword G.o.d declaring [Jino is naive], such feelings vanished.

Ahh, so it’s alright to do things like that too, such was the lesson he got out of it.

Though despite learning the lesson, he had the level of discretion to think [Let’s not do it because it will be frowned upon at the dojo].

 

Nina was the one who changed the most.

Nina was different from Jino.

With her bruised face flus.h.i.+ng with rage, she didn’t speak for that entire day.

After practice in the dojo, she returned home and cried at the backyard in secret.

She swung her sword while crying.

As she repeatedly muttered, Unforgivable, unforgivable…

 

Jino hesitated to call out to her.

It was the first time Nina experienced losing to someone amongst her generation.

Even so, it was not like she lost with just any ordinary sword.

From what Jino had heard, they fought using a wooden sword embedded with iron.

She didn’t even lose gracefully.

Collapsing, getting mounted on and beaten endlessly, even leaking herself due to the fear and pain, that was how she lost.

It was a defeat like no other.

It was the first time in her life that she experienced something like this.

 

Since then, Nina’s attack against Eris begun.

At first, Nina conspired with the other swordswomen and tried to exclude her out.

 

But Eris never cared about other people from the very beginning, so it resulted in failure.

Eris desired for strength more than anyone else.

The Holy Sword Region’s internal affairs was none of her concern.

 

Without any opposition, Nina’s frustration began to build up regularly.

She badmouthed Eris at every opportunity and even complained about her to Jino.

 

Jino didn’t like that kind of Nina.

When Nina was the leader, she was completely different.

Even if there was someone she didn’t like, she didn’t exclude them out.

 

Nina looked like a bad person to even Jino, who knew her for a long time.

 

It was one day that changed that.

Without telling anyone, Nina suddenly disappeared.

 

Of course, there was no one that worried.

Although Nina had never left the Holy Sword Region and was ignorant of the outside world, she was a Sword Saint.

There was talk about how she may have left to go on a combat training trip because of being provoked by Eris.

There were more people who were impressed than those who were worried.

It was to the point that even Jino was told by his father: [It may be a good time for you to see the outside world as well. If you hunt a red dragon, maybe that relaxed expression of yours will change].

 

Although Jino thought about doing it, he never took action.

Because he never had much interest about the outside world he never once visited.

To put it bluntly, he was a bit scared as well.

 

The majority of the adults in the Holy Sword Region knew about the [Outside World].

However, it was at most to the degree of knowing about neighboring countries or the countries they were from.

There weren’t many people who actually traveled around the world.

The tales that were told were mostly about where and what technique they used to defeat a certain opponent.

 

Among such tales, there was one adult who told him stories of her failures.

Ghyslaine Dorudia.

It was Sword King Ghyslaine.

Although she was an adventurer who traveled around the world, she taught him about the times she almost died due to her own stupidity.

 

[The world is a place where even the most talented swordsman die. If you don’t know how to use magic or math, or how to read, death will come swiftly]

 

Ghyslaine’s serious face as she told him these stories made Jino believe her.

It was because Jino, like the rest of the children in the Holy Sword Region, didn’t know how to read, use magic or math.

 

Without any interest, rather fear of not being able to solve things with swordsmans.h.i.+p alone.

It was no surprise that he didn’t even want to go out.

 

In any case, Jino didn’t chase after Nina and days pa.s.sed by.

 

It was after two months since Nina left that she came back.

Jino wanted to ask Nina about her trip, but she didn’t tell him anything.

Something probably happened.

Since that day, Nina changed.

Stopping her hara.s.sment towards Eris, she became more serious and earnest in regards to swordsmans.h.i.+p.

 

She rarely a.s.sociated with other swordswomen and her arrogant nature disappeared as well.

She spent most of her breaks on special training.

Though that special training was nothing more than trading blows with Jino in sparring sessions.

Following her like a henchman, he traded blows with her countless times.

Trading blows silently.

Such days pa.s.sed by.

 

And so, this was when Jino began to fall for Nina.

 

It was only after months and years pa.s.sed by that Jino began to become aware of his love.

 

Before that, many things happened.

The North Emperor Auber and Water G.o.d Reyda came to visit.

For Jino, none of these events interested him but the same could not be said for Nina.

Being provoked by Eris, Nina constantly grew stronger.

Even Jino, who did special training with her, also became stronger as well.

 

But it slowly became impossible to win against Nina.

Even though he rarely won against her before, his win rate against her steadily plummeted.

In the blink of an eye, there was a huge gap between Nina and Jino.

 

Jino didn’t really think much about this issue.

Losing against Nina was the same as before.

Going from winning only once every five times to winning once every ten times is not that big of a change.

But why is it.

Somehow he felt like he was being left behind.

 

At that day, Sword G.o.d Gal Farion called for Nina, Eris and Jino.

 

The Sword G.o.d asked for the answer of [The difference between a Sword Saint, Sword King and a Sword Emperor].

Jino had no idea what the answer was.

However, Eris and Nina were different.

Nina answered after a moment of thought while Eris ended with insisting her answer was correct despite being told it was wrong.

The Sword G.o.d was also satisfied with Eris’ answer and made them fight each other.

Announcing that the winner would become a Sword King.

 

And so, Eris won.

Eris became a Sword King while Nina wept.

 

Seeing the weeping Nina, Jino had a strange feeling.

Unconsciously clenching his fists, he tightly shut his mouth.

He couldn’t understand his feelings.

Nor the reason why he felt like so.

He might be irritated.

Or maybe even frustrated.

Why isn’t he himself standing there?

Does he not even have the right to fight those two?

After this, what would become of himself?

 

It was the first time Jino ever felt such emotions.

 

At the same time, he realized it.

The question that the Sword G.o.d asked Nina [Marrying with Jino or becoming a Sword King. If you had to choose between the two, which would you choose?].

Hearing that question and feeling his face fl.u.s.tered, unable to deny anything.

 

That he somehow fell in love with Nina.

 

Since then, Jino changed a bit.

It wasn’t that his usual behavior changed. He completed the training given to him by his father and the Sword G.o.d and continued his special training with Nina.

That didn’t change even after Eris left the Holy Sword Region.

His matches against Nina just became more intense than before.

 

What changed was his att.i.tude towards swordsmans.h.i.+p.

He became more proactive than before.

He began to think about the meaning of everyday practice as well as thinking about each technique, he experimented with various things.

 

The result was extraordinary.

In the blink of an eye, he became on par with Nina.

It wasn’t anything strange.

Jino had the talent from the very beginning.

 

Nina also changed.

Nina, who became a Sword King, began to often travel to nearby villages and towns after Eris left the Holy Sword Region.

Hunting demons, going to dojos in big towns and giving out lessons.

Nina was proactive in such activities instead of just focusing on improving her swordsmans.h.i.+p.

 

On the other hand, Jino refused to leave the Holy Sword Region as usual.

Though he no longer felt scared of the outside world, he had no thought of leaving.

Even Jino did not know the reason why.

Maybe there was no reason at all.

But there was also no reason to leave either.

 

He trained diligently even when Nina wasn’t there, and from time to time, built up a lot of practice by sparring against his Sword Emperor father.

 

However, each time, he couldn’t overpower his opponent.

His Sword Emperor father was too far out of reach.

According to the Sword G.o.d, he would be gifted with his Sword King license soon, but that was it.

 

In terms of technique, he had already caught up to his father.

It was the same for Nina.

It was probably the same for fellow Sword Kings Ghyslaine and Eris.

 

But he couldn’t win.

He was lacking a single step.

He knew that.

He even knew what he needed to do to win.

But he couldn’t put it into action.

Although he became proactive, he restrained from putting himself into a harsh environment.

No, there was a time when he did put himself into a harsh environment.

And each time, he always thought to himself.

Why must I do these things to the point where I suffer?

 

Years pa.s.sed by without an answer.

 

One day, Nina asked him after coming back from seeing a coronation ceremony in the Asura Kingdom.

 

[Hey Jino. Why don’t we get married?]

 

Jino responded with a nod.

He didn’t give it much thought.

Instead, it was something he expected to happen sooner or later.

It was because he liked Nina and it didn’t seem there was any indication of her being in that sort of a relations.h.i.+p with another man either.

 

Nina, who had an impatient personality, brought Jino to her room and immediately did the deed.

It was both their first time, so there were a lot of lacking points as well.

However, there was enough compatibility between the two to dedicate themselves to at least one night.

 

As the pleasant feelings kept coming, he thought to himself.

I want more of this.

It was probably the first time in Jino’s life that he wanted something so strongly.

 

The day after that.

Jino took Nina along to see the Sword G.o.d.

It wasn’t Nina that took Jino, but Jino who took Nina.

To tell him that they wanted to get married.

It was a rare sight for Jino to move independently.

 

[No]

 

Was the Sword G.o.d’s immediate reply.

The Sword G.o.d who never once interefered with his daugther’s education, gave a firm NO for the first time.

The reason was simple.

In the eyes of the Sword G.o.d, Jino lacked charm.

 

Without a sense of independence, not to mention an adventurous spirit let alone ambition.

A man who simply does as he is told.

Although the Sword G.o.d did not know that the two had spent the night together, he figured that Nina was the one who brought up the topic of marriage to him as well.

 

Jino was the type of man that never wanted something for himself.

He never tried to grasp something with his own hands.

And yet, marriage?

Don’t make me laugh.

But at the same time, he had another thought.

That it wasn’t a bad flow of events either.

 

[If you want to get married, defeat me yourself. Then I’ll give you my permission].

 

It was the Sword G.o.d’s way of encouraging Jino.

By giving him an obstacle, he hoped that Jino would show at least a bit of determination.

 

[…… !]

 

However, at that moment, Jino understood.

He felt as if something clicked in his head.

I understand.

Ahh, it was this all along.

 

The thing that the Sword G.o.d would always tell him.

Something that he was missing.

The ident.i.ty of [Why?].

It was this.

It was something as simple as this.

 

Jino felt as if everything in front of his eyes became clear.

The thing he couldn’t really understand throughout his life was starting to become clear.

He grasped something with his own hands.

The final one, the one step that he was missing.

It was a [Goal].

 

After that, it was simple.

 

Jino changed.

He completely changed.

His entire being changed.

 

He stopped all the training that he was ordered to do until now.

He even stopped his special training with Nina.

 

Did he become truant?

Not at all. He started training by himself.

In that training, there was no need for a partner.

He already had plenty of combat experience from his special training with Nina, practicing with his father and partic.i.p.ating in countless mock battles.

 

There was a theory for winning as well.

Jino had a vision of gaining certain victory against swordsmen of the Sword G.o.d Style.

However, to reach that vision, there was an extraordinary amount of effort needed. He had to overcome painful and harsh days.

Hence the reason he didn’t do it until now.

He didn’t have a reason to do it.

Whether it was frustration or irritation, such feelings weren’t enough to endure it.

However, it was different now. Jino had a goal in his hands.

I want Nina, I want her no matter what. Even if I have to go through painful things I want her.

That goal changed the painful and harsh to joy and hope.

 

After that, all there was left was to grind and sharpen.

Forging his body to increase the speed and weight of the sword.

It was needed to verify his theory.

Training, Special Training, Practice.

There were countless words, but none of them applied.

If one was to find a word that applied…. It would be [Work].

 

Jino simply did the things that he needed to do.

To make his body be able to defeat the Sword G.o.d, he worked flawlessly everyday.

To reach his limits, Jino continously worked.

Jino was able to do it.

He had that sort of talent from the very beginning.

 

With motivation, deeply thought out theory, flawless work.

The innate talent that controlled all those things.

With these four elements combined, Jino’s sword became sharp.

 

 

And so, the fated day came.

 

That day, Jino got up early and went to where his childhood friend was and once again proposed to her.

Facing off each other with wooden swords, Jino defeated Nina and told her to become his.

After she accepted, he headed to where the Sword G.o.d was.

 

It was the afternoon and there was a mock battle going on in the main dojo.

In the Holy Sword Region, it was a combat practice that happened from time to time.

It was not only a place where one could test to see how much their skill improved, but also allowed for two people to challenge each other to see who was at the top.

 

In such a place of training, Jino unexpectedly came back.

For a Sword King like Jino, his opponents would either be two Sword Saints, Nina who was the same rank as he was, or a Sword Emperor who he would challenge together with Nina as two people.

Nina was absent.

Since that was the case, naturally he would face off against two Sword Saints as tradition followed.

 

However,  as soon as he walked to the center of the dojo, Jino pointed his wooden sword at the Sword G.o.d.

The dojo fell deadly silent in an instant.

 

[Jino! You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, what are you doing!]

 

The first person to get up from their seat was Jino’s father, Sword Emperor Timothy Britts.

 

He raised the wooden sword he had by his side and struck at Jino.

No, he tried to strike him.

However, the moment he tried to get up with one knee, the knee that was at the front was smashed.

At the same time, the hand holding the wooden sword was also smashed and caused the sword to drop on the floor.

 

Sword Emperor Timothy Britts opened his eyes wide in shock.

He was used to pain.

His facial expression never showed pain.

Despite that, the cold sweat that ran down his face.

In his eyes, there was the figure of Jino who had just finished swinging his sword.

After a glance at his father, Jino turned around to the Sword G.o.d.

 

[Sword G.o.d sama, I have come to take Nina]

 

He declared as he pointed the sword just like he did a moment ago.

Sword G.o.d Gal Farion looked at that sword and laughed ferociously.

 

[Alright, come ――]

 

at me.

Before he could finish those words, Jino moved.

But Gal also moved at the same time.

Rather, Gal was faster.

It was because Gal was already in stance.

When the Sword Emperor was defeated, he picked up a wooden sword, raised his hips and readied his sword drawing stance.

 

Though it was a disadvantageous stance, to Gal, nothing was disadvantageous.

To be able to surpa.s.s his opponent with overwhelming speed despite being at such a disadvantage, such was the being known as the Sword G.o.d.

However, he couldn’t surpa.s.s Jino.

Jino moved at roughly the same speed as the Sword G.o.d.

Nevertheless, the two wooden swords that moved at roughly the same speed clashed together a little closer to Jino.

That is to say, the Sword G.o.d’s speed was superior.

Thus, the Sword G.o.d drove his strike in even deeper with more speed.

 

It was at that moment that the Sword G.o.d had a bad feeling.

 

The Sword G.o.d was nearly flawless in this single trade of blows.

For the Sword G.o.d Style that had the motto of “A Single Strike”, to block an opponent’s sword was considered a poor move.

However, collapsing the opponent’s stance with the first strike and finis.h.i.+ng him off with the next wasn’t unheard of.

It was like that until now.

To the Sword G.o.d Gal Farion who dominated his opponent with the first strike, there was no such thing as defeat.

 

That’s what he thought, but Jino’s sword was heavier than any other sword Gal had faced before.

Jino’s stance didn’t collapse.

Of course Gal’s stance didn’t collapse either.

It was a tie.

It rare for Gal to experience a tie between first blows.

 

It was a tie despite the fact that Gal drove his strike in deeper.

In that case, the next move would be different.

Gal’s stretched out sword took time to come back.

Jino’s sword was different. Despite catching up to Gal’s sword, it was in a position where it could instantly go back.

It wasn’t like both of their stances collapsed.

It was the slightest difference in time.

 

But Jino made that slightest difference his.

The definitive difference that was like putting a thread through a needle in order to gain certain victory against Sword G.o.d Gal Farion.

 

Gal Farion couldn’t execute his second swing.

 

That day, Jino grasped everything he wanted into his own hands.

 

Sword G.o.d Jino Blitz.

He grasped everything he wanted into his own hands.

Nina Farion.

That was everything he wanted.

The t.i.tle of the greatest swordsman, [Sword G.o.d] was nothing much to him.

 

He never once left the Holy Sword Region in his lifetime.

This resulted in him having the lowest popularity out of all the Sword G.o.ds and rumors spread about him being history’s weakest Sword G.o.d.

He was also not accepted by the Sword Saints who were apprentices of the previous Sword G.o.d.

 

But he didn’t care.

Rumors had no meaning.

 

That was because he was going to defeat every single opponent who challenged him.

Such opponents included a swordsman who tried to become the next Sword G.o.d.

A challenger who came after hearing the rumors about the [Weakest Sword G.o.d].

Jino crushed them all.

After becoming the Sword G.o.d. Undefeated.

That was Jino Britts’ combat record.

 

It may have been possible that if he left the Holy Sword Region, he could have beaten experts such as the Water G.o.d Reyda and Death G.o.d Randolph.

However, he didn’t do it.

For him, the Holy Sword Region was the entire world.

From the beginning to the end, there wasn’t anything he wanted from the outside world.

 

Nevertheless, after becoming the Sword G.o.d, his world expanded without a doubt.

Because other than opponents, there were many people who paid a visit to befriend the Sword G.o.d Jino Britts.

Though they did not want to fight him, at times they requested for sword lessons and at times did business with him.

 

Rudeus Greyrat was also one of those people.

 

Yep, he suddenly showed up one day.

With the Mad Sword King Eris Greyrat at his side, who Jino had deep relations with.

Bringing along with him, the North G.o.d Kalman III and Dragon G.o.d Orsted…