Light Novel Volume 18/Summary

Rudeus's Diary
Rudeus writes in his diary, addressing the entries to his deceased father. It has been one and a half years. Rudeus trains with Orsted and improves his magic, attaining Saint class in Fire, Wind, Healing and Detoxification magic, as well as Intermediate class God Barrier magic. Rudeus performs various jobs assigned by Orsted to help various people. Those they help now will become useful to Orsted in the future.

Rudeus has renovated the hut that they use as their base and main office. The building has a conference room, sleeping room and research room. It also has an armory, which also contains the Magic Armor, which has been successfully miniaturized. The basement has magic teleport circles which allow them to quickly travel to other major places around the world.

Rudeus's eldest daughter Lucy is now 3 years old. As Rudeus is often away carrying out missions for Orsted, she often doesn't recognize him, much to his disappointment. Rudeus has also brought Lucy to meet Orsted. They get along very well, confirming that Hitogami was telling the truth that the curse doesn't affect Rudeus's descendants. Roxy also gave birth. Although the delivery was complicated by shoulder dystocia, Roxy was able to give birth to a healthy girl that they named Lara. Lara has blue hair, like Roxy. Some family members worry that she may be bullied because of this. Elinalise also gave birth, but without complications, to a healthy baby boy that they named Clive. Eris also wanted to have children, but was initially having difficulty conceiving. After taking a break in her training, she was able to conceive. The main cause of her infertility was likely due to her intense daily training.

Asura's king, Ariel's father, has passed away from his illness. Ariel will become queen soon. After Eris got pregnant, a letter was sent to Ghislaine informing her of this news. After Eris's child is born, they plan to visit Asura Kingdom to visit Ghislaine.

Zenith, Rudeus's mother, still hasn't recovered her memory. Her emotions have stopped improving, and she still doesn't speak. Orsted does not have any clues regarding a cure. Nevertheless, Rudeus does not plan on giving up on restoring her memory.

Chapter 1: One Job Among Many
Angelique Curenttale, Angie, and Pham Haindora are two women who are going on an expedition to collect the petals of the Eant flower to cure the village chief's son, Dochil, who has Iburi Disease. As they collect the flower petals, they are attacked by a Ibri lizard. At the last moment, they are saved by Rudeus. Rudeus reveals he was sent by a certain person to help Angie, but doesn't reveal any more details. Angie falls in love with Rudeus, as he was her knight in shinning armor that she always dreamed about, but after a few attempts to seduce him, Rudeus pulls out Roxy's panties and sniffs and prays to them. Angie's infatuation quickly turns to disgust. Before parting ways with Angie and Pham, he gives Angie a Superd race figurine along with a picture book. He tells her to read the book to her future children and to tell them that the Superd race don't need to be feared. A few years later, Angie becomes the second wife to Dochil, who is now the village chief. As requested by Rudeus, Angie raised her children while reading the picture book for them. Over time, the story from the picture book became a staple for the children in the village. The story of the bald warrior from the Superd race carrying out justice. Later it spread through the neighboring villages.

Chapter 2: The Borrowed Cat
Rudeus returns home from his mission, saving Fam Haindora, and killing the lizard. Aisha and Sylphy welcome him home. His toddler-aged daughter continues to be wary of Rudeus, much to his disappointment. He finds out that Eris has recently saved Linia Dedoldia from slave traders. Linia recounts her story of how she tried to become a merchant after graduation from school. She soon fell into debt after getting scammed and was sold into slavery. The slave traders then arrive at Rudeus's home. They recognize that Rudeus is a powerful person both in combat ability and in connections and so try to convince him to return Linia to them. They explain that the Boreas house has already bought Linia for 300 Asura gold coins. Rudeus considers giving up Linia to the slave traders, but decides against it. He purchases Linia from the slave traders with three bags of magic stones, which are worth 1500 Asura gold coins in total. Rudeus confirms that the slavers don't also have Pursena in their possessions. Rudeus intimidates the slaver, and gets the slaver to promise to also give him Pursena, if she ever becomes their slave. Trembling in fear, the slaver agrees and leaves.

Chapter 3: The Entrance Ceremony and the Student Council President
In return for saving her from slavery, it is decided that Linia will work as a maid in their house. She is to work under Aisha. She recognizes Sacred Beast Leo and is able to communicate with him.

Rudeus goes back to school. Today is the entrance ceremony for new freshmen. Norn is the student council president and gives a speech. After the entrance ceremony, we are introduced to three freshmen Special students: Rayfort, son of the village chief of the elven Magnafold village, Mi'nal, son of the village chief of the dwarven Bi'nal village, and Grannel Zafin Asura, second son of Asura Kingdom's first prince, Grabell. Linia comes to the university to drop off lunch and recognizes Rayfort and Mii-Nall, who are both scared of Linia. Norn then arrives and scolds Rudeus for allowing Linia to bully the freshmen. Norn introduces herself to the three freshmen. Rudeus thinks to himself that Norn has grown into a impressive and classy lady.

Chapter 4: Research Progress
Rudeus meets with Cliff, and together they go to meet Orsted in the city outskirts. They are there to test Cliff's latest iteration of his curse suppression tool. Cliff has made some progress over the past year with suppressing Orsted's curse. Eris and Sylphy's attitude has softened toward Orsted, from "enemy of all living beings" to "evil boss" thanks the Cliff's surpression artifacts. Through his research, Cliff has also come to realize that [https://mushokutensei.fandom.com/wiki/Light_Novel_Volume_16/Summary#Chapter_9:_Before_Leaving_for_Asura_Kingdom. Rudeus lied] about the fact that breaking the curse was related to Rudeus trying to kill Orsted, and that Rudeus was actually initially telling the truth about the fact that Orsted's curse cause living beings to fear and hate him. With their testing done, Rudeus and Cliff return to the university.

Rudeus goes to visit Zanoba. He sees Zanoba and Julie panicking over the fact that blood is flowing from her vagina. Rudeus reassures them that there is no wound to heal and this was likely menstruation and to ask Ginger for help.

Cliff, Zanoba, and Rudeus have lunch together. They discuss the progress on the Magic Armor. Over the past one and a half years, there have been several iterations to the Magic Armor. It has been miniaturized and requires much less magic to power it. It currently performs at the level of a Saint class swordsman. They have also changed their Gatling gun to a shotgun. Firing off several bullets at once is helpful as a counter against Water God style swordsmen, who can parry magic itself. Zanoba has made little progress on his autonomous doll research, as he has devoted his time to the Magic Armor instead; Zanoba doesn't mind this, however.

They then discuss mass producing their Superd doll and picture book. The limiting factor currently is that they don't have a shop where they can sell their product. Rudeus immediately discounts having Linia run their shop. They consider hiring another slave to run their business.

Rudeus then goes home, accompanied by Roxy and Norn. Roxy and Norn are getting along well. When they arrive home, Lucy greets Norn, but continues to hide herself from Rudeus. Norn finds out that Linia is now their new maid. Norn and Sylphy wonder if Linia will join Rudeus's collection of wives. Aisha greets everyone and introduces Linia, who has donned a maid outfit, similar to Aisha's.

Chapter 5: Signs of a Family Falling Apart
At the office, Rudeus practices his magic for combat. Rudeus practices chaining his various techniques, such as stone cannon, quagmire, and electricity, as well as the forms Orsted is teaching him, developed by Dragon God Urupen. Orsted then arrives and gives Rudeus his next mission, with departure in three days.

Rudeus goes home and sees Linia looking dejected by the front entrance. He enters his home and is greeted by Lucy, to Rudeus's pleasant surprise. He finds out that Eris has gone to the school to teach swordsmanship to Norn. Rudeus goes to the backyard to find Aisha. Aisha is upset about the fact that Linia broke her favorite teacup. More than that, however, Aisha is upset at how Linia is doing a poor job as a maid, such as breaking dishes and getting her fur in the laundry, and the fact that she doesn't learn from her mistakes. Aisha is also upset at Linia's constant lighthearted tone, and how she never sincerely apologizes for her mistakes. Aisha asks Rudeus to kick Linia out and perhaps sell her to the Boreas house. As Linia is his friend, Rudeus asks Aisha to forgive Linia, which Aisha agrees to do for now. After dinner, Sylphy likewise tells Rudeus that Linia doesn't fit in with their household.

At bedtime, Rudeus is feeling horny as he hasn't had sex for over ten days. Roxy and Sylphy aren't available as they are on their period, and they have a rule that pregnant women can't have sex, so Eris isn't available either. Eris invites Rudeus to have sex with Linia. Rudeus considers it, but rejects Linia, to Linia's disappointment since she wanted to become Rudeus' fourth wife which would also erase her debt. Rudeus is concerned that if he has sex with Linia, it would only worsen the current family dynamics, on top of wanted to just be friends with Linia.

Rudeus reflects on how several household members are unhappy since Linia arrived. He considers that the reason Eris went to teach at the school was to escape the unpleasant atmosphere at home. Rudeus decides to find a non-maid job for Linia, tomorrow.

Chapter 6: Starting a Business
Rudeus tries to find a new job for Linia. He considers various possibilities such as having her help Zanoba or Cliff's research, become the merchant for selling the Ruijerd book and doll sets, become Norn's maid, or become an adventurer. He dismisses all those ideas as none seemed like a good fit nor would they allow her to generate enough money to repay her debt.

During lunch, Rudeus discusses with Cliff. Cliff suggests having Linia help with work at Orsted's office. Cliff wonders if the curse may have an odor component, which would prevent Linia from working at the office. Rudeus comes up with a new job for Linia, which is to recruit people to support his and Orsted's missions. He buys another building to become the new office, where Linia would work. He gets Aisha to supervise Linia, who reluctantly agrees.

Chapter 7: A Company Venture
Rudeus was given a mission where he needs to ensure that the knight Lionheart and Princess Geltraude of the country Twall are able marry each other, despite differences in their social status. In the original timeline, the king supports their relationship, and tries to make Lionheart into a hero. The king started a war and sent Lionheart to the frontlines, but Lionheart ended up dying. Rudeus proposes a plan to the king, where he kidnaps the Princess and the king sends Lionheart to save her. Rudeus, pretending to be a villain, battles with Lionheart, and then pretends to be defeated, therefore solidifying Lionheart's status as a hero and allowing him to marry the princess as he was given a title of nobility as a reward. The mission was a success and Rudeus heads home.

Back at home, he finds out from Sylphy and Lilia that Aisha has been spending a lot of time with strange shady looking people wearing black cloaks. Sylphy directs him to the building where Aisha is, and Rudeus goes to investigate. The building is one he doesn't recognize. Inside, are lots of people, all wearing the black coats. Rudeus is brought to meet Aisha and Linia. He discovers that they are the leaders of the organization, and notes that they are dressed like mafia bosses. Aisha tells Rudeus that in the month that he had been gone, Linia was able to quickly recruit over 30 people to their organization. With so many members, Aisha sold the old building bought by Rudeus, and rented the current building. From Nanahoshi's recommendation, Aisha had all the members wear a single uniform, which ended up being the black coat with a yellow rat symbol sewed in to signify Greyrat to build solidarity among the group. Next, Aisha considered what they could do with all these new recruits. As most members had no talents except for combat, they decided to form a mercenary company. This new business, under Aisha's careful direction, had many job requests for bodyguard work and generated lots of income. Rudeus is extremely impressed with all that Aisha has accomplished within a short time span. He notes that with this, it could be possible for Linia to repay her debt. Aisha reveals that a major part of her motivation for managing Linia's new business was to make sure Linia didn't fail and end up back at their home. The name of this company is the Ruquag's Mercenary Company, with Ruquag being Rudeus's pseudonym. It has 50 current employees and is a branch company of ORSTED Corp.

As Rudeus heads back home, Linia tells Rudeus that she received a letter from the Great Forest. In it is written a single line: "Grave Situation, Holy Beast-sama has disappeared! Urgent Search ASAP!". Rudeus therefore decides to go to the Great Forest to apologize for being the one responsible for the Holy Beast's disappearance.

Chapter 8: Revisiting Doldia Village
Rudeus goes to the Doldia village to explain the situation with the Sacred Beast, accompanied by Linia and Sacred Beast Leo. They use Perugius's teleportation circles to get to the Great Forest. On arrival, they discover that it's rainy season and the forest is submerged in over 5m of water. Rudeus makes a boat and they make it to the Doldia village after a few days.

Once they arrive, the villagers are surprised to see their Sacred Beast. They also recognize Linia, who is Gyes's daughter. They shame Linia for abandoning her duty to the village to become a merchant. Rudeus goes to meet Gyes, who is now the village chief. Rudeus notes that Gyes is much calmer now, compared to when they last met 10 years ago. Gyes is accompanied by Minitona and Terusena, who are hot-headed and remind Rudeus of Gyes's old self. Rudeus explains his situation, about how he is fighting a powerful enemy and summoned a being to protect his family, and Sacred Beast Leo ended up being summoned. Leo himself is able to communicate with the Beast race, and so explains that Rudeus's daughter Lara is special. It is revealed that Leo's purpose in life is to assist the person who will save the world. Leo believes that this person is Lara. Gyes expresses his surprise since he wasn't expecting this special person to appear for another 80 years. A possible explanation offered is that since Lara is half human and half elven, she will have a long lifespan and so may need protecting 80 years into the future. Gyes ultimately accepts Sacred Beast Leo's decision to live with Rudeus and guard his family. He asks Rudeus to bring Lara to the Doldia village for a ritual when she turns 15 years old.

The conversation then shifts to the reason for Linia living with Rudeus. Linia initially tries to lie, but Rudeus tells the truth about how she was scammed as a merchant, fell into debt, sold into slavery and was ultimately bought by Rudeus. Gyes then discusses who will go back with Rudeus to help guard Sacred Beast Leo. Although Leo is unlikely to require protection, it is the Dorudia tribe's duty to do so. Minitona and Terusena argue over which of them would guard Leo. Before any decision is made, Rudeus asks about where Pursena is. Rudeus is brought to the prison, where Pursena is currently being held.

Chapter 9: The Case of the Jerky Thief
Pursena returned to the village a half year ago. As a daughter of the Adoldia tribe's chief, she was a potential candidate to become the next village chief. Before becoming a candidate, she needed to become a warrior chief. With her advanced healing magic, she worked with the warriors and gained their trust. However, 10 days ago, there was an incident where Pursena was on duty to guard the warehouse full of meat, and she ate it all. The meat warehouse is meant to preserve food for the rainy season. Every night, it is guarded by a team of two people. That night, Pursena's partner was Kanalna. Kanalna was injured in battle, however, and so Pursena sent her home to rest. The next day, Pursena was found sleeping in the warehouse, with some meat around her mouth, and the stored meat eaten. Pursena's reputation dramatically fell. She was forced to resign form her position as warrior chief, she is no longer a candidate for village chief, and she was thrown into jail.

Pursena continues to insist on her innocence. Rudeus, having been previously falsely accused of a crime by the Doldia village in the past, agrees to investigate on her behalf. His investigations confirms that Pursena is indeed guilty. He does learn, however, that before the incident, there was a demon attack and Pursena had spent all day healing warriors and did not have time to eat that day. By the time her guard shift started, her hunger got the better of her. Rudeus sympathizes with how a single mistake has destroyed her dreams of being village chief. Rudeus returns with the results of his investigation and confronts Pursena. He is able to get Pursena to confess to her crime.

Gyes then re-opens the subject of the one person that will go back with Rudeus to become Sacred Beast Leo's caretaker. Linia requests that Pursena be Leo's caretaker. She suggests that if Pursena does her job well for 10 years as Leo's caretaker, that her crime may be forgiven. Gyes is initially reluctant, but with Rudeus also voicing support for this idea, Gyes accepts the proposal. Pursena, along with Rudeus, Linia, and Leo then return to Magic City Sharia.

Chapter 10: The Other Slave (Part 1)
Julie has been quietly sneaking off to the market at night, and she refuses to tell Zanoba why. Zanoba and Rudeus go to a shop that makes decorative boxes for dolls, where the shopkeeper, Belfried, explains that he wants his "girls" (dolls) to "sleep" (lie in) "beds" (boxes) befitting their beauty. Belfried mentions that Julie came to his shop with a doll so well-made that he offered to pay 200 Ranoan gold coins for it, but Julie ran out of the shop after he got overexcited. Zanoba, Rudeus, and Belfried come to the conclusion that Julie is unhappy with being a slave and wants money to purchase her freedom. Zanoba, Rudeus, and Belfried go talk to Julie in Zanoba's room, and Zanoba asks Julie whether she wants to stop being a slave.

Chapter 11: The Other Slave (Part 2)
The narration explains that Julie's parents were wandering craftspeople who bought raw materials, made weapons and ornaments, and sold them to get by. Although they were skilled, they had no talent for business, and by the time Julie was born they were already in crippling debt. Eventually, they had to choose between dying as a family or living in slavery, and they chose the latter. While Julie's parents were sold fairly quickly due to their skills, no one would buy Julie since she couldn't speak the human language and was too young to do anything. She realized that she was going to starve to death in a cage, abandoned by her parents; having lived her entire life with no happy memories, she gave up on finding happiness. When Zanoba and Rudeus appeared in front of her cage and Rudeus asked, "Do you want to die?" Julie was on the verge of saying yes, but changed her mind after seeing the serious look in Rudeus's eyes. Life as Zanoba's slave was very different from what Julie had envisioned, and while there was a lot of work for her to do, she was well-fed, could sleep in a warm bed, and above all, her master was kind to her. Zanoba treated her like a younger sibling, looking after her and talking about dolls all day. She came to enjoy doll creation due to the sense of accomplishment at getting better and the praise Zanoba would give her upon completing a doll. One day, she finished a doll, and noticed something weird about it; it was, by her and Zanoba's standards, a "masterpiece". Although she wanted to show it to Zanoba right away, she figured that Zanoba would be even more delighted if she presented it to him in a decorative box. She went to Belfried's shop, but realized that the price of a box was far higher than the amount of money she had on hand. Remembering that Belfried had a tendency to lower his prices for high-quality dolls, Julie showed him the doll, but his obsessive behavior scared her and she fled the shop, bumping into several boxes in her haste. Unable to go back, Julie decides to make her own box. When Julie hears Zanoba ask if she wants to quit being his slave, she assumes that he is angry about the damage to the merchandise in the shop and is going to end their relationship. Desperate to avoid being cut loose, Julie offers the masterpiece doll to Belfried to appease him (LN illustration 10), which shocks Zanoba and Rudeus. Although Belfried is eager to get his hands on the doll, Rudeus interrupts them and asks for an explanation. Zanoba assumes that Julie has betrayed him because she is unhappy with her circumstances, and desperately tries to make it up to her by offering her payment for the dolls she has made and granting her freedom. Julie realizes that Zanoba meant no harm and gives the doll to him, and the misunderstanding is resolved. Zanoba realizes that even though he is living a relatively simple life compared to his time in the royal palace, he is happy living with Julie and Ginger, able to devote his entire time to the dolls he loves (LN illustration 11). He then receives a letter with the Shirone royal crest, and laments that all good things must come to an end.

Chapter 12: The Next Battle
After returning from the Dorudia village, Rudeus wakes up early to do his normal training. He notes his family sleeping peacefully. He sees that Pursena slept in Eris's bed last night, where she was Eris's hug pillow, and so complains of rib/breast pain. At breakfast, Norn discusses with the family what she wants to do when she graduates. She considers becoming an adventurer. Her family members don't forbid her from pursuing this, but express their concern. After breakfast, Aisha and Pursena go to the Mercenary office to help Linia manage the company.

Rudues goes to see Orsted and reports on his past month's activities. Rudeus tells him about his new Mercenary company. Rudeus brings up the fact that Lara may be the savior. Orsted notes that in other timelines, the partner of the Sacred Beast was male, and that he defeated Demon God Laplace when he revived. Orsted did note, however, that Hitogami spent a lot of effort to prevent Rudeus's and Roxy's fate from intertwining. Rudeus speculates that perhaps his daughter has taken the original hero's place as the savior. Orsted concludes that Lara will likely be a major obstacle for Hitogami in the future. He reassures Rudeus that with the Sacred Beast's protection, Hitogami cannot easily harm Lara.

Rudeus goes to school to meet Cliff and Zanoba. He sees them arguing with each other. Zanoba reveals that he has received a royal command to return back to his home country. His brother Pax succeeded in a coup, executed his father and brothers and took the throne. Exhausted from the civil war, other countries might invade Shirone. Therefore Zanoba received a royal command to return to his country, and assist in defending it. Hearing this, Rudeus realizes that this is likely to be his next fight, and that it has come earlier than he predicted.