In Mushoku Tensei with an A.I. Chip

Luna was used to hardship. Ever since she could remember, she had to fight just for the right to live. But cruelly enough, that wasn't always the case. Her first memory was not of violence but love. 

She had always been different from other children. But she didn't mind it. 

Unlike the other kids, Luna's ears were on the top of her head, and she had a puffy tail at the small of her waist. But she loved her ears and tail, because her beloved mother had it too. 

Unlike other children, she only had a mother, but not a father. Mom told Luna that her father was a noble who she used to work for. But after mom became pregnant with her, she was asked to leave the nobleman's estate after being given some money. 

"His name is Sauros, Luna. And he was a great lord." Her mother told her once, but that was all Luna knew about him. 

But things changed one night when she was four years old. Bad men came into their house at night. Luna's memory of the events of that night was blurry, and she only pieces together what happened that night years after the fact. 

These bad men were slavers, and they had come to catch Luna and her mother, to sell them as slaves. 

Slavery in the Asura Kingdom was a discreet but legal business. Unlike other countries, it wasn't a significant part of their economy. Buying and selling slaves were done so on a low profile.

But you can't just catch anyone and sell them as slaves. Asuran citizens were definitely off limits. That would be against the law. 

Debtors could be sold as slaves, as well as criminals, but also… demi-humans. 

Luna's mother had been a demi-human slave. Taken from her home in the Begaritt Continent when she was young, sold to fortunately kind nobles in the Asura Kingdom, but was then freed later. 

The slavers didn't care that her mother was a free woman. All they saw were two Beast Race females that would be worth good coin. And without any family around to kick up a fuss with the local authorities, they would have gotten away with it too. 

Luna had faint memories of that night, but certain moments had been permanently etched in her mind. 

Her mother, holding back the slavers with a knife while desperately screaming at Luna, "Run! Luna! Go! Now!"!

Luna last memory of her mother, as she turned back while running, was of her bravery - a woman wildly swinging a kitchen knife at men twice her size - and then tragedy, as one of the men struck her down in anger. 

Luna ran out into the streets of Auster, crying helplessly, desperately wishing it was all just a nightmare. 

Her life after that was a blur. With no one else she could turn to, Luna started living on the streets, sustaining on scraps in the trash. To make it worse, the other urchins beat her up black and blue, simply because she looked different from them. 

In hindsight, Luna was lucky slavers hadn't caught her when she was living on the streets. Nor did she get lured by perverts or degenerates. 

Not that her life was easy. The other urchins didn't let her scavenge for scraps at the best spots. Desperate and hungry, Luna could only turn to thieving. 

That was something Luna had been surprisingly good at. She was quick, quiet and nimble. The pads on the soles of her feet let her walk or even run without making a sound. 

Walking through the market, she could grab a loaf of bread or snatch a coin purse, before disappearing within seconds into an alley. 

This went on from a couple years without any major hick ups, until one day she stole from the wrong man. 

It was her first time being chased seriously enough that she had to run away with all her might. 

But in the end she got caught by him, Firenze.

Firenze was the leader of a thieves guild. Luna's eye for assessing easy marks had never been more wrong. 

But he was impressed with her skills, and so gave her a chance. She had to bring him one Asura gold coin worth of loot every month from then on, otherwise he would send out all of his underlings to catch her and sell her as a slave. 

The then 8 year old Luna felt she had no choice but to obey. 

Fast forward to today. 

Luna stopped as she saw the flyer that was being put up all over town. Dressed head to toe in nondescript beige and browns, since she started living on the streets 7 years ago Luna always wore a hood to cover her ears. She also always had on a loose cloak to hide the tail on the small of her back. 

[Recruitment Notice]

Hear ye, hear ye! 

House Notos - proud and noble lords of Milbots - seeks young blood to join their ranks as a nobleman's personal guards. 

Requirements:

- 10 to 18 years old

- Healthy of body, sound of limb, free of deformity or affliction

If selected, you will receive: 

- Training from House Notos' own Master-at-arms.

- Lodging and meals for the duration of your employment.

- Monthly Salary of 3 Silver Asura Coins

- Honor of serving under the direct command of the noble scion of House Notos

All who attend the tryouts will receive ONE LARGE COPPER COIN, whether chosen or not. 

Tryouts will be held from the 15th to 17th of the Ninth Month of K411. 

Be present at the outer yard in the morning. Late comers will be turned away. 

Bring nothing but your courage and your limbs. 

There were many people gathered around each poster being put up around the city. 

"One Large Copper just for showing up? Damn! Wait, only 10 to 18 year olds can apply?"

"Eh? But why?" 

"You don't think they are trying to recruit playmates instead of guards, do you?"

"Hell, you know what those noble types are like. I wouldn't be surprised."

"But they are recruiting both boys and girls." 

"Yeah well, they're all perverts. I doubt they care whether it's boys or girls they are diddling."

Luna stepped closer to the poster and examined it closely with her unique red eyes. 

One Large Copper Asura Coin just for attending the tryout? It wasn't much, but Luna had already covered the tithe for Firenze for this month. But… it was a possible door for her to get out of the life she was in now. And she needed to get out as soon as possible. 

One Gold Asura Coin every month. It has already been 53 months since Luna first started paying Firenze. In total, she has had to fork over 53 Gold Asura Coins. It was an amount that could let someone retire comfortably in a countryside village and not have to work for the rest of their lives. 

When Luna first joined the Thieves Guild, she had to risk her life and freedom to steal enough to pay Firenze. Over time she got better, and her skills improved so she could do it easily, but it was still a dangerous profession. One that Luna did not intend to do for the rest of her life. 

Firenze was a dangerous man, being the leader of a Thieves Guild in one of the major cities of Asura Kingdom. And when Luna was younger, he was the scariest man she ever knew. He could mobilize hundreds of subordinates if he wanted to. But as she grew older, she realized that the world was much bigger than just Auster.

A man like Firenze was only a small fry when compared to nobles or the truly powerful. The hundreds of subordinates he had? Petty thieves and thugs that had no real loyalty and would run if their lives were in danger.

If Luna was accepted by the Notos Greyrats as their personal bodyguard, there was no way Firenze would dare go against one of the most powerful noble families in the Asura Kingdom. She would be free from him. 

And if this nobleman just wanted a concubine to play with, Luna would just run away. Whether it is through working for the Notos family or running away, either way Luna was determined to get away from Firenze no matter what. 

With that in mind, Luna made her way towards the Notos Keep, only to pause and awkwardly return home when she realized the selection would only begin in three days. 

____________________________________

Jude put down the pick axe by the door of his home and slumped on a chair while downing a canteen of water. 

"Brother, you're back." A weak voice called out from the bed at the corner of their single room home. 

The young man, tall, muscular and sturdy for his young age, quickly ran to the bed. 

"Marie. Jude back. Hungry?" 

A young girl laid on the bed. Although she was only a year younger than her 16 year old brother, she looked younger due to her weak and emaciated condition.

She shook her head with a weak smile, "No, I have already eaten in the afternoon. What about you, brother? You always work too hard and forget to eat."

"...Jude ate lots. Don't worry about Jude, Marie." 

Her brother was as bad at lying as always. 

Jude was a miner that worked in a quarry on the outskirts of Auster. His monthly wage was only one silver and five large copper asura coins a month, but most of it went to buying Marie's medicine. He barely had enough for himself, but still spent even more buying sweet treats and more food for his sick sister than for himself. 

Marie, who inherited most of the brains in their little family, could see through Jude's lie instantly. If not for her, Jude could live a better life, she understood this keenly. 

"Brother, maybe we should stop buying my medicine…" She started tentatively, but was interrupted by a loud shout from her brother.

"No! Marie needs medicine! No medicine, Marie die!" Jude protested loudly. 

"The medicine doesn't work anyway… It's just prolonging the inevitable." Marie spoke with resignation. 

"No." Jude didn't understand all of his sister's words, but he still stubbornly refused her.

"You should be saving money to look for a wife. That's what mom and dad would want, brother." 

"No."

"Just forget about me, brother. I am just a… waste of your time and money." Marie tearily insisted. 

"No!" Jude refuted her once more with a monosyllabic rebuttal. Then his eyes suddenly widened as he remembered something. He pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket and showed it to her. 

"New job. More coin. Read for me, Marie." 

"What's this?" Marie took the paper from her brother and started reading it. 

"Personal guard for a noble… monthly salary of 3 silvers… one large copper coin just for showing up…" She looked back up to her brother, "You want to try out for this job?" 

"Don't know. Heard it's free coin." Jude shrugged blankly.

Right, Marie forgot her brother couldn't read. 

"It's a recruitment notice from the Notos Greyrat family- the nobles that govern Auster and the Milbots region. They are looking for personal guards who will be directly commanded by one of them. If you are selected, they will offer 3 silver asura coins a month. It's not a bad job." Marie explained. 

"3 silver coins… more than mining?" Jude's brow furrowed in confusion. 

"It's twice more." She answered. 

"Then, Jude take job!" He declared.

Marie couldn't help but chuckle at her brother's antics, "Brother, you need to go for their tryouts and be selected first. They might not want to hire you…" 

"Jude work hard!" The young man argued. 

"Yes, well, Brother does work too hard sometimes." Marie smiled, "If you want to try you need to go to the Notos Keep on the 15th. That is in two days." 

"Notos… Keep?"Jude frowned in confusion.

"It's the biggest building in Auster." Marie sighed. She loved her brother, but he could be a little too… simple minded sometimes. How was he going to be the personal guard for a noble if he didn't even know who or what the Notos Greyrats were.