Multiverse: Starting with Mushoku Tensei

Rudeus suddenly felt a chill, glancing nervously at his cheerful father and his quietly seated mother.

He wanted to say, Your older child looks like he wants to kill me.

But before he could, Paul seemed to recall something, grabbing the impatient Roah and placing him in front of Rudeus. With a broad grin, Paul said, "You two need to get along, alright?"

The two pairs of eyes met. Roah's cold, golden gaze caused Rudeus to instinctively avert his eyes.

To be honest, in that moment, Rudeus was terrified.

Noticing the strange atmosphere between them, Paul lightly knocked on Roah's forehead and said sternly, "You need to get along, especially you, Roah. As the older brother, you should take care of your little brother."

Roah sighed and nodded reluctantly.

Seeing this, Paul smiled and, without caring whether Rudeus understood or not, said to him, "Don't let your brother's expression fool you. He's actually very kind."

Paul then made a silly face, as if trying to amuse Rudeus.

But Rudeus couldn't laugh.

---

After some playful banter, Paul finally calmed Rudeus down and placed him back in the crib. Leaving Roah and Lilia to care for him, Paul went to spend time with Zenith.

Rudeus, pretending to sleep, kept stealing glances at the child standing nearby.

Roah, with his doll-like features and cold expression, was undeniably beautiful. But his emotionless gaze reminded Rudeus of the bullies from his past life.

Because of his previous experiences, Rudeus was deeply distrustful of strangers. In his eyes, Roah's face began to morph into the faces of those who had tormented him before.

'They looked at me the same way, didn't they?' he thought.

Fear and anxiety crept into his heart. Would this supposed family member treat him the same way as those bullies?

He didn't know. The uncertainty turned into a wave of terror that made his body curl up involuntarily, just like in his past life.

As Rudeus spiraled into paranoia, the two-year-old Roah approached his crib, dragging a chair to stand on.

Seeing this, Rudeus's face went pale. His already pale complexion turned ashen, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

No matter how much he told himself that things were different now, the psychological scars of his past left him unable to distinguish reality.

Roah noticed the trembling child. He sighed softly.

Although he didn't think highly of Rudeus's past self, he couldn't deny that the infant before him was a pitiful soul.

Reaching out, he gently touched Rudeus's soft, chubby face.

Rudeus flinched as the hand approached. Memories of the bullying surged forth, and he felt as though a dark hand was squeezing his throat, suffocating him.

Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over.

But instead of pain, he felt the soft, cool touch of Roah's fingers on his cheek.

The unexpected warmth startled him. He opened his eyes wide, and before he realized it, tears streamed down his face.

Roah noticed the tears and found it somewhat amusing.

'If it were Paul, even with his obliviousness, he'd probably notice something was wrong,' Roah thought. 'Well, lucky for you, it's me.'

Sighing, Roah whispered, "Why must reincarnators trouble each other?"(T/N: No, Rudeus doesnt know, he is speaking with native language, not japanese, or english, maybe)

Pretending not to notice Rudeus's distress, Roah's hand gently brushed Rudeus's forehead. In a soft, childlike voice, he said, "From now on, you're my little brother. I'll protect you."

The words were spoken so softly, yet they rang clear in Rudeus's ears.

He couldn't fully comprehend their meaning, having only recently arrived in this world, but the sincerity in Roah's tone made his heart tremble.

Tears filled his eyes again, spilling over as he tried to hide them.

Desperate, he began to cry loudly, his wails echoing through the room.

At first, it was an act to cover his tears, but soon, it became genuine.

Roah stared blankly at the crying infant, unsure of how to respond.

---

Paul quickly arrived, drawn by the sound.

Seeing Roah standing calmly on a chair and Rudeus crying his heart out in the crib, Paul asked, "What happened?"

With his usual indifferent expression, Roah replied, "I think I accidentally woke Rudeus up. Sorry, Father."

Paul, already used to Roah's stoic demeanor, shook his head and said, "You really need to learn how to smile more."

Roah thought for a moment and forced an awkward smile.

Paul covered his face and sighed. "Never mind. Just stay the way you are."

---

Two years passed after that incident.

Rudeus had come to accept that the doll-like, expressionless boy was indeed his older brother.

But something seemed off about this "big brother."

Whenever Rudeus tried to justify his actions as the whims of a child and do something perverted, he would always feel the weight of Roah's cold gaze.

Then Roah would say, "Rudeus, boys who do things like that are considered perverts."

At that moment, Rudeus's hand, reaching for a pair of panties, would freeze mid-air.

He would try to play innocent, flashing a naïve smile, but Roah wouldn't buy it. Roah would pick him up by the collar and flick his forehead lightly before tossing him onto the bed.

"You can't go around staring at people's private things with those kinds of eyes," Roah would scold. "Do you want to end up like Paul?"

Rudeus wanted to retort that being like Paul didn't seem so bad, but under the stern gaze of his older brother, he couldn't muster the courage.

Seeing Rudeus's dejected face, Roah added seriously, "If you want to be perverted, do it openly and with integrity."

Rudeus looked up in disbelief, completely baffled by Roah's words.

"Anyway," Roah continued, "taking panties is wrong. Got it, Rudeus?"

Roah's serious expression remained unwavering, as if his words were an undeniable truth.