Highlights
- Rudeus and Sara's relationship reaches a turning point as they go on a date, but Rudeus's impotence reveals unresolved trauma from his past with Eris.
- Sol offers support and understanding to Rudeus, suggesting that his impotence is a result of his traumatic past and may be cured by overcoming his fear of women.
- Rudeus makes a devastating mistake by ranting negatively about Sara in front of her, leading to a breakup and a suicide attempt, but Sol intervenes and offers Rudeus a chance to join him on a quest.
The following contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Mushoku Tensei Season 2, "Abrupt Approach," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
After overcoming a crisis and finally getting over their differences, Rudeus and Sara have gotten closer than ever before. That closeness encroaches on the precipice to romance, but an unforeseen roadblock soon rears its ugly head. This obstacle soon results in a minor tragedy for Rudeus, and proves that he has yet to heal from the traumatic end to his relationship with Eris.
The last couple of episodes have shown Rudeus healing and growing from his pain by showing him warming up with the members of Counter Arrow, only to cruelly take it away with his own mistakes and actions. It's one of Rudeus's lowest points, but thankfully there is a future in the horizon.
A Chance At Romance
After saving Sara from the blizzard, Rudeus has gotten much closer to the members of Counter Arrow, accompanying them on quests more frequently. Rudeus's relationship with Sara in particular has gotten much better, and she clearly shows romantic interest in him, such as being jealous when he mentions other women like Roxy. Sara takes the chance to ask Rudeus to go shopping with her so she could buy a new knife, and he agrees, only realizing after that she was asking him out on a date.
After spending the day out shopping, the two go drinking at a bar. While Rudeus wavers over whether or not to make a move on Sara, Sara makes the first move and asks to see Rudeus's room. The two embrace while lying on the bed, and just as things are about to get steamy, Rudeus finds that he has become impotent. Thinking that Rudeus does not find her attractive, a hurt Sara insists that she only went this far because of her gratitude for him saving his life and storms out.
A Scar From Eris
Ashamed, Rudeus gets dead drunk at another bar when Sol from Stepped Leader walks in. Sol provokes Rudeus once again, but instead of laughing it off like before, Rudeus lashes out at Sol, assaulting him with a hail of drunken punches. As he rants, he admits that he doesn't want people to hate him or reject him, so he puts on a polite face and tries not to step on anyone's toes. Surprisingly, Sol does not retaliate against Rudeus's drunken rampage and sympathizes with him, taking him out to drinks to hear him out.
There, Sol hears from Rudeus about his relationship with Eris and its disastrous ending. After hearing about what happened, Sol suggests that Rudeus's impotence was likely caused by his trauma over what happened with Eris. While Sol does not have a concrete solution to Rudeus's current problems, he suggests that they might be able to overwrite it all by going to a brothel.
Broken Heart
True to his word, Sol takes Rudeus to a brothel, where he is paired up with a prostitute named Elise. Elise notes that she is quite familiar with the name Quagmire Rudeus, as he was the one who healed her sister's cut free of charge. Elise tries to help Rudeus with his impotence, but once again he is unable to perform. Elise and Rudeus meet up with Sol and discuss possible reasons as to why Rudeus is having such a complex issue. Elise thinks that Rudeus has developed a fear of women after Eris traumatized him, and suggests that if he finds a woman that he wouldn't have a reason to fear for whatever reason, he could cure the issue. Rudeus, however, can't think of anyone right now that he could go to for something like that, so the issue remains unresolved.
Sol suggests that they drink the night away, and they do exactly that until morning. As they drunkenly stumble home, Sol suggests that while Sara might have been ready to take that next step with Rudeus, he was the one who needed more time to get there. Rudeus rebuts that Sara said she was only doing it out of obligation, but Sol can tell that was only a lie. Despite Sol's words, Rudeus feels pessimistic about his chances and instead starts ranting negatively about Sara's bad points compared to Elise. Unfortunately for him, Suzanne and Sara were both walking nearby and overhear.
Rudeus tries to cover up for his mistake, but Sara slaps him across the face and dumps him on the spot, storming off in tears. Realizing what he's done, Rudeus immediately tries to kill himself with the knife Sara dropped onto the ground, only to be stopped by Sol's quick movements. He tells him to run after her and apologize, but Rudeus refuses, seeing no point in it. Seeing him in this depressed state, Sol invites him to join Stepped Leader on a quest to explore a labyrinth. Rudeus is surprised that Sol would even bother, and that he hated him, but Sol explains that after seeing him lay himself bare last night, he couldn't help but like him after all. Feeling lucky to still have a friend in Sol, Rudeus accepts his offer. A scene after the credits notes that Rudeus was instrumental in helping the party clear the labyrinth, catching the attention of Elinalise Dragonroad, who has been looking for Rudeus.